Her Story
by The Kirby Kid
Summary: [UPDATE] There's a new Blueeyed Devil in town...it's the kid named Link. He's back, and he's after Invincible's killer. Will Zelda learn to always 'Be Careful What you Wish For' [Chapter 13. SONG REPLACED]
1. History and Biography

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The Legend of Zelda: Her Story

A History and Some Biographies

By : The Kirby Kid.

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Disclaimer:

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Hey. All respective Zelda™ Characters are property of the Big 'N' (Nintendo for all the uninitiated out there). All other characters were created by me, and can be used by anyone with permission…or respect for the characters. Anyone who forgets this solicits punishment by swarm of 1000 annoying mosquitoes! Mmm, scratchalicious.

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Warnings:

This fic contains the history of my past fictions, plus a biography. The real fic chapters WILL be added to it. Please Please Please Do Not Remove!

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Author's Notes:

It's kind of strange to put this up here, since this entire chapter is really an Author's Notes. Nevertheless, it would probably be a good idea to explain my motivations to you people.

Like most writers, I hit a snag. My snag is that I've been working on a different story at the same time I was working on _The New Divinity_. 

As I explained once before, _The New Divinity _is a part of a Trilogy of Zelda stories I've been working on. The _Gerudo Keepsake_ was the first, _The New Divinity _would be the second and this, _Her Story _ would be the last.

Well, that's still the case, but recently I've become dispirited with _The New Divinity_. I think it's a good story. ( That makes 3 people who think so. o_O ), but I'm really more interested in telling _Her Story _first!

So that's what I'm gonna do.

Taking a leaf out of the Book of Lucas, I'm going to give you my Trilogy in the wrong order. The 1st, The 3rd, and then the 2nd. I know this isn't really how things are done, but hey, what the heck? It's all in good fun, right?

But I'm not going to leave you, my loyal readers, ( all 2 of you ) dazed and confused as to the main running story between the 3 fictions. So, the first 'chapter' of _Her Story _will be **History**! Get it? Herstory? History? Get it? It's funny. Get…ah never mind.

The History is really intended for those who've never read my past fic, and they want to get the gist of it. The biography is really for everyone.

So, this is how it's gonna be. In this prologue, I will give you the biography of the characters in my fictions and a nearly complete account as to the events that happened in the fics that would have preceded this one historically. That way, you'll be up to speed.

"But Kirby Kid, you freaking idiot," you scream. " you'll be giving away the plot to _The New Divinity_, and you haven't finished that one yet!"

I understand your concern. But I while I'll give away the consequences of the solutions in _The New Divinity_, and while I will give away important facts, I will still keep most of the surprises and details from you. All you have to know for this fic will be what I give you in the History. Sure, some things will be spoiled, but I think you'll agree with me that in the big picture, these 'spoilers' weren't really that big.

And if they are, then forgive me. But trust me, I'll be keeping the juicy stuff from you.

There. I hope you understand my position and my reasoning now. Without further ado…History. 

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The Gerudo Keepsake

A Kid named Link

For as long as he could remember **Link of the Kokiri **always lived amongst his child-like brethren in the **Kokiri Forest**; in the shadow of the **Great Deku Tree**. Around the age of six or seven, when it was suddenly apparent that Link was growing and would continue to grow older, **Mido **and the rest of the Kokiri ( except Saria ) made the decision to have Link leave the Forest. And so, the young Link found himself alone in the vast grasslands of the Hylian plains.

It was on his first night outside the forest that Link found his dreams invaded by the **Link's of the Past**. These specters of the past heroes of destiny, blessed by the **Triforce of Courage**, visited Link each and every night. They taught him the art of violence, how to defend and attack with an unnatural ferocity. It is because of these constant lessons that Link was such an excellent fighter, even at such a young age. It is also because of these wraiths that Link's personality would sometimes change, from that of a kindhearted lad to a cold hearted killer.

Home at the Ranch

Link was nearly a week alone on the Hylian plains when he was found and befriended by **Talon**, the lazy Ranch Master of the local and prosperous little farm known as the **Lon-Lon Ranch**. He took Link in to live and work with his six year old daughter **Malon**, and his business partner and friend, Ingo.

There Link lived happily for around eight years. He found himself having very strong feelings for his new family, even Ingo, and especially Malon, who was quickly growing into a pretty young woman. Malon was falling in love with Link, but could not put her feelings into words. And so they worked and played and laughed together. 

Link found that around his thirteenth birthday, his training dreams had stopped. It seemed that everything was coming together. Now that his dreams had finally become clear and free, it seemed that he had a long, stable life to look forward to.

Birth of a Hero

Then, on his fourteenth birthday, Link discovered a birthmark that was not there before. On his left hand, his inferior hand, was the mark of the Triforce. The Rightmost triangle of the symbol, the Triforce of Courage, shone especially brightly. Link tried to keep this birthmark hidden from his friends.

On that same day a messenger came to Lon-Lon Ranch, and bid Link to Hyrule Castle. Link feared that he would get in trouble for illegally using the holy symbol of Triforce. Instead he was greeted by the cold but dazzlingly exquisite **Princess Zelda XXIII**. She knew of the Triforce on Link's hand, and revealed an equal Triforce symbol on her own, the left **Triforce of Wisdom **shining predominately. She told Link that it meant that a great **Cataclysm's Eve **was about to beset the Kingdom. Link joked about it not being that serious. (Since that was his nature, he was a joker. A big sarcastic joker.).

At that moment there was an assassination attempt on the Princesses' life by elves in black. Link thwarted the attempt expertly. Afterwards he promised to meet her at a later time.

Princess of the Waters

A few days later Link went fishing as he usually does, and encountered a nude Zoran girl stuck on his line. The girl introduced herself as **Ruto**, who as Link did not know yet was Princess of the Zoran kingdom. Link, embarrassed at having a conversation with a girl wearing nothing but her birthday suit, introduced himself as Chain Link Fence, or Cliff for short. They quickly became friends, and Link would later find her critical in his quest.

The Demon Boar

When Link returned home, he found his family in a state of shock and fear. It turns out that they had gotten two visitors while he was away. A benevolent sage in white, and a young man dressed in black. They both wanted to know one thing: the whereabouts of Link.

The sage in white simply left to wait for the boy, whereas the boy in black instilled the fear of death in Malon, Talon and Ingo. When the boy left, the family thought the saw him as a boar, one just like Ganon.

As Link was trying to calm his family down, he was visited by Princess Zelda. This time, she wanted him to go with her to see the sage in white that had visited Lon-Lon Ranch. So, they left together.

They found the sage, and discovered that they were indeed living in the Cataclysm's Eve. The sage did not think that Ganondorf was directly responsible, however. Link and Zelda decided that the only real course of action was to make sure that the **Master Sword**, Evil's Bane, was in their possession. The Sage warned Link of using the Master Sword, but decided to help them anyway. He told them of the three **Keys of the Master Sword**. The Fire, The Forest and The Water. That was all he told them. Before he let them out, he again warned Link of the danger of a boy like him, a hero that was not pure, in using Evil's Bane.

The Trial of Keys: Forest

Against Link's wishes, Malon joined his quest for the three Keys. He was using Epona and she was after all, Malon's horse. Together the three began a journey that took them to the edge of the Forest to look for the **Forest Key**. There, Link was reunited with his childhood friend, **Saria**.

Saria was not a little girl anymore. Although diminutive in stature, she had clearly grown older, almost as old as Link. It seemed that not long after Link had left the forest, Saria and her fairy, **Esea**, left as well. Why? Link would not know until he entered the Forest. Only Saria Link and Esea could enter the Forest, so the others had to wait.

Back inside the Kokiri forest, Link encountered and confronted Mido once more. He also spoke to the Deku Tree, who gave him grave news. The Kokiri were dying in the Forest, and that is why He was sending them out into Hyrule to grow old and live.

Link and Saria went into the Lost Woods to find the key, and after a few dangerous battles and after braving the maddening chanting of the Woods, they finally procured the Forest Key.

They left the Kokiri Woods, and rejoined Malon and Zelda. Saria now joined their quest.

The Trial of Keys: Water

Next was the **Water Key**, to be sought in the Kingdom of Zora. As soon as they entered, they were attacked on orders of the grieving King of the Zora. His daughter, the princess was missing, and any outsiders were to be caught and imprisoned. Link made a deal to find the Princess, in exchange for the Water Key, despite Zelda's protest. The King agreed, and transported Link into the insides of their Demigod, Lord Jabu-Jabu.

Inside, Link found the Princess, who was none other than Ruto, the girl he met a couple of weeks past. She was being held prisoner by a Zora named **Kardo**. He was an anarchist who wanted a dissolution to the Treaty, and a new Zoran xenophobic attitude for his people. He attacked Link with a giant squid monster. Link defeated it Ruto pushed Kardo into the belly of Jabu-Jabu, supposedly killing him.

They were both transported out of Jabu-Jabu, and into Lake Hylia. Link survived the encounter with Ruto's help. He returned her to her people, and Ruto gave Link the Key of Water, and her help in any future endeavors. She did not join him at this time.

The Trial of Keys: Fire

The group now stopped by the Shiekah town of Kakariko, to clean up after the long journey. Their, Link and Zelda had a very accidental encounter of the nude kind. (Hee hee. You can read about it in The Gerudo Keepsake: Chapter 10.). Of course Zelda was furious, but not as incensed as she thought she should be after having someone see her naked. She was beginning to come to terms with the fact that she too had feelings for Link.

Alone, the two of them made their way to Death Mountain to visit the Gorons to retrieve the **Fire Key**. There they met up with **King Goron IX** and his son, Link. They discovered that Goron-Link lost the Key in the Dodongo's Cavern. Link went their alone to retrieve it.

There, he fought a battle with two Dodongo's that left him severely injured. To make matters worse, he found no Fire Key. Someone had beaten him to it.

He was transported out of the cavern and into a nearby wood, where he was near death. When Link awoke, he found himself being tended to by a beautiful young Gerudo girl named **Nabooru**. She was also searching for the Key, and following the one who took it. They agreed to search for the Fire Key together.

Eventually, the two found the one who had the Fire Key. It was the boy in black that terrorized Lon-Lon Ranch. He called himself **Knatagahnim**. He was A **Gahnim**: a fringe group in society that worshipped the fallen King of Evil. Knata attacked Nabooru, which instigated a furious battle between the dark Gahnim and the Hero of Triforce. Knata turned out to be much more powerful than Link, and he was becoming overpowered, when Zelda, Saria and Malon showed up. With their help, Nabooru was able to stop Knata with a piercing arrow to the heart.

Knata disappeared, and the girls rushed Link back to Kakariko for some serious healing. It was back then that Zelda properly reunited with Nabooru, who was her blood sister; a pact that the two made when they were little girls. Nabooru also gave Link the Fire Key. Apparently it had fallen out of Knata's clothes after he fell. Nabooru joined the growing group, and together with all the Keys, they started the search for the Master Sword.

The Hidden Grove

The group couldn't find where the Master Sword was hidden. They tried to find the Sage that Zelda and Link had talked to weeks ago, but he had disappeared. Disheartened, Link appealed to Ruto for help, and she suggested the Imprisoning War Memorial. Underneath, they indeed found the Master Sword, and the Link's of the Past were finally made aware to the women. The Master Sword fought with Link when he tried to free it, but eventually Link was successful. Evil's Bane was his.

Link had a new mission. Knatagahnim was still alive. He knew it. He and the Gahnim's were trying to bring about the Day of Evil. It was up to the Hero of the Triforce to stop them. But where to look?

The Gerudo Link

Saria suggested that a friend of her might know something about the Gahnim cult. He lived in the village of Hirocco. Unfortunately for Nabooru, the only way to Hirocco was through the desert, and the Gerudo Fortress. Ruto did not join them for this trip.

There they were greeted by the Den Mother of the Gerudo: Andala. She revealed to Link that he was part Gerudo. She was able to tell just by looking at him, a common ability within the Gerudo. She also told Link that his mother was a Gerudo warrior named '**Nissa**'. 

It turns out that even though Gerudo boys are born all the time, they are merely half-casts, like this Link was. True Gerudo males are born only once every 100 years, and one hasn't been born since the birth of Ganondorf, since he never really died.

Later that night in the Fortress, Nabooru realized her own feelings for Link, and the two of them shared an accidental romantic encounter. Nabooru swore there would never be a repeat of such a thing, because she was loyal to her blood sister Zelda; and Nabooru told Link that Zelda also had feelings for him. At this point, Link became very confused and melancholy, and decided to concentrate on the mission instead.

The Atheist Village

Finally they made it to the technologically advanced city of Hirocco. The people of Hirocco, like the people of Calatia, put more importance on science than they did religion or magic, and Zelda was uncomfortable. They met up with Saria's friend, **Evit Stal**. After some rest, he told them of how he knew Knata and his brother **Dain**, as a youngster. They were both half-Gerudo male, abandoned by a mother who did not want sons, and by a father who couldn't live without her.

According to Evit, Dain had a weak heart, and during an argument with his younger hate-filled brother Knata, he died of a heart attack. Soon afterwards, Knata left, complaining that Dain was weak, and that he had to become stronger. 5 years after he left, Knata returned and tried to recruit Evit into a new cult known as the Gahnim. Evit refused.

Evit also informed them that the Gahnim headquarters was just beyond a giant rift in the land known as the **Giant's Valley**. There was no way to cross it by foot, so Evit was building a balloon that would float them across. That would take a week. However, there was the legend of the **Giant's Tower**…

Link decided that this was getting to dangerous for his companions, and he secretly left them and stole out for the Giant's Tower alone with Epona. Well, he thought he was alone, but Saria's fairy friend Esea had joined in the ride.

Evil's Bane.

Link found his way to the Giant's Tower, and using Saria's Ocarina (I guess I forgot to mention that he borrowed it), solved the riddle of the tower by using a memory of a young Link of the Past. Playing the **Oath to Order **on his Ocarina, the tower crumbled, revealing a silver mechanical dragon that Link later named Dragon. (He's a clever guy, that Link.) 

Using Dragon, he was able to cross the great expanse of the Giant's Valley. On the other side, he was in view of the Gahnim base, but was attacked by a fist of Gahnim warriors. Link unleashed the power of the Master Sword, and the result was catastrophic. Link massacred the Gahnim troops in a horrific display of efficient violence, and the young hero was thrown into an unstable psychological state.

The Gerudo Keepsake

He could no longer deal with the violence in his nature, and he decided to bind the Master Sword up, never to use it again. He was also badly injured in the battle, and would have died if not for the assistance of a certain Gerudo. Nabooru had somehow found her own way across the expansion, and she helped Link physically. But not mentally.

Link continued on to the Gahnim base, where he met and fought once more with Knatagahnim. This time Link fought with only the 3 great spells. It was not enough against the wicked Gahnim, and Link found himself near death once again, about to plummet from an enormous and fatal height. 

This is when Nabooru used the power of the **Gerudo Keepsake**. She used the spirits of past Gerudo warriors to give her the power to fly and save Link from the fall. Everything fell into place. Link now knew that his Link's of the Past was his Gerudo side invoking the power of the Keepsake. Knatagahnim also knew that as a half-Gerudo, he could also use the power of the Keepsake to bring back a spirit from another world: Ganondorf Dragmire.

As a thanks, Knatagahnim brought down his terrible blade to bear on Nabooru, and killed her. There was nothing Link could do. Utterly defeated, he returned to Hirocco and brought the sad news to the others.

There was no time to mourn, however. The Gahnim base was on the move, to Hyrule. Knata was beginning the incantation to bring Ganondorf back, and he wanted him to be reborn in the home of his enemies. Link unsheathed the Master Sword, and with the others by his side, returned to Hyrule.

The Final Battle

Link using Dragon and the girls using Evit's balloon, they hurried to Hyrule for the final battle. The girls landed and used their magical power to protect the Castle from the Base's magical attacks. Link infiltrated the base and began his search for Knatagahnim. After a battle with the new Gahnim Kardo, and a confrontation with Evit ( who tried to convince Link to not kill his old friend.), Link finally met up with Knatagahnim, and they begun the battle.

And it was intense. Link used the sacred power of the Spin Slash to finally destroy Knatagahnim. However, Link was about to come out the victor, when the incantation was completed. Ganon burst out of the Sacred Realm and attempted to take Link out of his body, to use his shell and make war with Hyrule.

Link's spirit was sent to the Final realm, the realm of the dead, where he got a full explanation from Nabooru, Dain, Knata and the Link's of the past of what had transpired and why. Link would have been trapped there forever, if it wasn't for the power of Malon's love for him. She traversed the spiritual plane and pulled Link out of the Final realm, and back into his own body. Link finally fought of Ganondorf, who was resigned back into the Sacred Realm.

End of the Quest.

Finally it was over. The Gahnim's were captured or fled, and the base was destroyed. Link and friends left to their own homes. Ruto back to the Zora, Saria and Esea to live with Evit and his ma, Dragon to live off in the far reaches of Hyrule, Malon back to the farm, and Zelda to the Castle. Link, found himself back where he started, in Lon-Lon Ranch, where he would stay with Malon and her family.

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The New Divinity

Life after the Gahnim.

Takes place 16 years after the events of **The Gerudo Keepsake**. Link became a Knight of the Triforce, and a few people recognized his exploits in the last Cataclysm's Eve. They named him **Invincible**, because of his unbeatable fighting exploits. Link married Malon, and had two children: A girl called **Talon **(12) and another on the way who was later named **Romani**.

Zelda married the Regent of the kingdom of **Calatia**, **Rile Frizant **and after her father died became Queen of Hyrule. She had two children: A daughter, **Princess Zelda XXIV **(12) and a son, **Prince Tibalt **(2).

Ruto married the head of her Knights, and the strongest Zoran warrior in 100 years, **Mikau Jaduu**. Together they spawned eight children, the youngest being **Liute **(8). She was born premature, and hatched a year later then her sisters, but was born with the unique genetic fighting traits of her father.

Now around this time, two refugees from the **Haiken Dukedom**. **Adrel Fastis**, and his nephew, **Link Harkain**(13). Adrel was an expert swordsman and quickly became a high ranking First Knight, under the order of Invincible. Link looked exactly as Invincible did as a child, but he couldn't use a sword to save his life.

The Missing Link

Link was constantly bullied by other kids of the Knights, especially by a kid named **Rocco**, whose father ( Rocky ) was a First Knight. After a chance encounter with Invincible and the young Princess Zelda, Link decided he wanted to take up the sword. He proved his strength and endurance by helping out Talon and her pregnant mother around the Lon-Lon Ranch. Invincible decided to begin training the boy. Unlike Invincible, the boy was left-handed, and he used a shield.

Prince Rile and his daughter, Zelda, along with a group of First Knights left Hyrule to visit the Zora. Disaster struck during that trip, as something blasted the Knights and the Prince into a comatose state. Zelda also became missing.

Link's uncle, Adrel, was one of the Knights that was attacked. Link was the first one on the scene. When he found the knights, unconscious, he also found a warp portal. Thinking of Zelda, he went inside to search for her. Link found himself in the **Dark World**, and he was turned into a pink rabbit. 

The Search for Self

Link found himself helpless, but aided by a mysterious girl named **Itali**. She possessed magical powers, and protected Link from the Moblins and other Dark World creeps. Link rescued a guppy who was a person changed by Dark World magic, and they also befriended a young super-strong youth named Rune. 

Together the group braved Death Mountain and found a wizard who would sell them the **Magic Mirrors **needed to revert Link and the guppy to their real bodies. It turned out that the guppy was really the Zoran Princess **Liute**.

The Book of Mudora

At the same time, Invincible was working in the Light World to find a solution to the current crises. On a hunch, he left to the Gerudo Fortress for some clues. On the way he met up with a member of the immortal bear-like race of **Ursus**. He gave Invincible valuable clues to his case.

Invincible made it to the Gerudo and their **Desert Colossus **where he met two twin Gerudo girls, **Palta **and **Tella **(12). Inside the Colossus he found an ancient tome from the great wizard **Sahasarala**. He brought the book back to Hyrule post haste.

Turns out it was called the **Book of Mudora**, and it contained the history of the world and all it's mysteries. Their was a copy of it in the Dark World, and it was held by **Er Chike**. More on that later.

With the book, they discovered the warp portals that were scattered around Hyrule. In order to close them, Invincible had to visit each and every one of them individually and use a Zelda created charm on them. Zelda also used a portal to communicate with Link and tell the lad to search for her daughter.

Meanwhile, Zelda found herself alone in the Castle with Er Chike with only her pet Keaton **Moto**. She was introduced to Er Chike, the master of the Region. She was also introduced to **Spane**: A young powerhouse, and **Theuk**: a younger master magician. 

The Adventure Begins.

Link, Itali, Rune and Liute met up with Esea, who was also stuck in the Dark World. Together they embarked on many adventures that led them to two ugly looking dolls. What part they play I wont spoil, but suffice it to say that Er had one doll like it as well, and he wanted the others.

Link practiced his sword every single day and eventually became proficient, inventing his own stance and his own style of block/counter attack. 

He also communicated and became friends with Zelda through the dream world. Finally they made it to Er's Kingdom, and were reunited with Zelda. Together they fought against Er Chike and his new powers. 

Zelda Rune and Itali fought against Er Chike and his monsters, and Zelda, at her tender age, was forced to kill another Elven-being. 

Triforce Flawed

Link, along with Itali, Spane and Theuk fought a existence-deciding battle with Er's creation: **????? **( I can't tell you. Hee hee. ) Using the Spin Slash, Link won the battle. 

Unfortunately the battle had one dire consequence. The Triforce became cracked. That which is Perfect became flawed.

The repercussions of this event has yet to be known.

Home is Not For All of Us

Working with those from the Light world, the group found their way back to Hyrule. Unfortunately, Itali was not able to go with Link. They bid an emotional farewell. 

Sorry the History for _The New Divinity _was so condensed. Trust me, it's all you have to know for the purposes of this new fic.

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Biography ( In Alphabetical Order )

Adrel Fastis: Link Harkain's uncle. Knight of First Rank. Rocky's Rival. Strong warrior, fat in stature. Knows the Spin Slash.

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Andala: Den Mother of the Gerudo clan. Friend of the Hyrule Royal Family.

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Cataclysm's Eve: A time when bad events transpire in Hyrule that prompt intervention by the Legendary Hero named Link, who was descended by bloodline from the first knight, to bear the same name. (From _ZeldaUniverse.net_). The last one to happen involved the Gahnim in The Gerudo Keepsake.

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Er Chike: Mandrag of the Er Region in the Dark World. Was obsessed with creating a new Triforce. Obtained powerful magical strength. Defeated by Zelda XXIV.

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Esea: Saria's fairy and **Navi's **rival. Helped Link during Cataclysm's Eve involving the Gahnim. Struck out on her own to help the boy Link in the Dark World. Is now exploring the world.

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Evit Stal: Inventor from town of Hirocco. Friend of Knata. Married Saria. Helped Link during Cataclysm's Eve involving the Gahnim.

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Ganondorf Dragmire (a.k.a. Ganon, Mandrag Ganon, King of Evil) : Mandrag ( King of the Enchanted Thieves ) of the Gerudo. Tried to rule Hyrule under the power of the Triforce. The Triforce split into 3 pieces, and he was stuck with the Triforce of Power. Was defeated by Link millennia ago and banished to the Dark World. Is immortal and will keep Hyrule in never-ending a spiral of Cataclysmic Eves until he is finally killed, and his evil destroyed.

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Itali: Outgoing child of adventure and magic. Was with Link Harkain in the Dark World and remains there.

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Kaepora Gaebora: Enormous owl of great intelligence. Is said to have a connection to the Sage Rauru, but that is just rumor. In these fics, he is the same Kaepora Gaebora from Ocarina of Time. 

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Kardo Korda: Deceased. Zoran anarchist and later Gahnim warrior. Killed by Ruto, resurrected by Knatagahnim. Killed finally by Link.

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Knata (a.k.a. Knatagahnim): Half Gerudo son of a Gerudo warrior. Mother left him and his brother, and his father committed suicide. His brother, Dain, died of heart failure. Became leading Gahnim warrior and nearly succeeded in bringing Ganon back into Hyrule. Killed by Link.

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Link Harkain: A young boy who was called upon to save Princess Zelda from the Dark World. Came from the Haiken Kingdom. Mother and father are Medila and Arn. They were scholar and knight respectively. Both killed during the civil unrest of that Kingdom. Uncle is Adrel, Medila's brother. He's quite clever and in the Dark World created a block/counter form of attack. Fights with left hand, uses a small strap on shield.

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Link, son of Nissa (a.k.a. Invincible, Cliff): Hero of the Cataclysm's Eve involving the Gahnim. Holds Triforce mark. A half-Gerudo, mother Nissa of the Gerudo. Married Malon and had two children: Romani and Talon. Became Hyrule's Commanding Knight. Dubbed the Invincible. Loved by the people. Fights with right.

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Liute: Shy, reserved Princess of Zora. Daughter of Ruto and Mikau. Apprentice of _Zi Mua Ko_. Friend of Link Harkain and Zelda XXIV. Was with them in the Dark World for a while.

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Malon: Link's (Invincible's) wife. Mother of Talon and Romani. Daughter of Talon. Helped Link during Cataclysm's Even involving the Gahnim. Runs Lon-Lon Ranch.

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Mido: Self-proclaimed leader of the Kokiri. Was always harsh, but had the best interests of the Kokiri at heart. Was Links rival before Link left the Forest. Mido was the last to leave the dying Kokiri forest. His whereabouts is unknown.

Mikau Jaduu: Prince of Zora. Married Ruto. Father of Liute. During the Cataclysm's Eve involving the Gahnim, he single-handily defended against a revolt of Gahnim Zora. He is a master of the Zoran martial art _Zi Mua Ko,_ and is one of a very small number of Zora with blade fins. He passed these traits to his daughter, Liute.

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Moto: Zelda XXIV's pet Keaton. Is actually a Keaton, Bombchu hybrid. Weird genetics made it very weak and premature, but Zelda loved it to a good health. 3 fox tails replaced with 3 Bombchu tails. Smaller in size than normal Keatons, but more intelligent. Has a tendency to explode when upset.

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Nabooru: Deceased. Strongest Gerudo Warrior. Was with Link during Cataclysm's Eve involving the Gahnim. Zelda XXIII's blood sister. Killed by Knata.

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Palta: Young Gerudo warrior. Very gifted. Twin sister of Tella. Friend of Zelda XXIV

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Rile Frizant: Prince of Hyrule. Married from Kingdom of Calatia. Father of Zelda XXIV and Tibalt.

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Rocco: Rival of Link Harkain. Bully, but is still young. Inspiring Knight. Wishes to marry the Princess. Father is Rocky.

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Romani: Youngest daughter of Link and Malon.

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Rune: Friendly, exuberant young person from the Dark World. Helped Link Harkain rescue Zelda XXIV. Possessed super strength and rock hard skin.

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Ruto: Princess of the Zora. Even though Father is ruler, she runs most of the affairs. Married Mikau Jaduu. Mother of Liute. Helped Link during Cataclysm's Eve involving the Gahnim.

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Sahasarala: Ancient Mage of Yore. Is said to travel both the Light and Dark Worlds for information, and wrote everything he ever learned into his Book of Mudora.

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Saria: Kokiri who left the forest. Lived with Evit in Hirocco and eventually married him. Helped Link during Cataclysm's Eve involving the Gahnim.

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Spane: Silent child of power. Dark World resident.

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Talon: Daughter of Malon and Invincible. Befriended Zelda and Link Harkain. 

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Talon Sr.: Malon's lazy father.

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Tella: Young Gerudo warrior. Very gifted. Twin sister of Palta. Friend of Zelda XXIV

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Theuk: Loud child of magical power. Dark World resident.

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Ursus: Name of individuals and the race of immortal beings. Extremely wise and jaded. Know everything about everything. Usually don't interfere in the affairs of the world.

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Zelda XXIII: Helped Link during Cataclysm's Eve involving the Gahnim. Became Queen of Hyrule when her father died. Mother of Zelda XXIV and Tibalt. Highly respected and loved by the people. Powerful with magic. She held the Triforce of Wisdom for many years, until her daughter inherited it for an unknown reason.

****

Zelda XXIV: Princess of Hyrule. Daughter of Zelda XXIII and Rile. Brother is Tibalt. Was lost in the Dark World, and is a close friend of Link Harkain and Liute. Possesses great magical talent, and is said to have the potential to be one of the most powerful Princesses in history. In the Dark World she was forced to kill an Elven being.

************

I think that's about it. It's a lot of info, but like I said, if you ever wanted to use these characters, go ahead. Just please treat them with respect. (v^-^). Ah they're not that great anyway.

Hope everyone enjoyed this and got a good idea of my last fics from it. The real fic will start soon. Hope you like it. Please review when it comes up. Tell me what you think of my whole crazy scheme. - (o'.')o


	2. Zelly

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The Legend of Zelda: Her Story

Chapter 1: Zelly

By: The Kirby Kid

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Disclaimer:

**__**

The Legend of Zelda™ is property of Nintendo of America/Japan

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Author's Notes:

Thanks for reading!

This chapter is quite long. Hope you don't mind. If you need to, rest your eyes halfway through. ^-^

Remember, if you need information on the history of these characters from my past fics, just check out the Chapter called '**History**'

Enjoy

************

People think that I'm unhappy.

They talk about me, I know that they do. I hear them in the Halls. I hear them in the corridors and in the walkways. My tutor, my chambermaid, Impa, my mother. Even Tibalt wonder about it sometimes.

"She seems so unhappy."

Maybe I am. I don't know. I know that I haven't been totally depressed, but I do have to admit, I don't think I've been really happy for a few years. And really, what's so wrong with that? 

I'm pretty sure that most people aren't all gumdrops and lollipops all the time either. Sure, they smile and laugh, I do too. But I'm sure that underneath all that is the same type of melancholy…

…or maybe it is just me.

I guess I really started becoming unhappy…when he left.

But I'd better not think about that.

I suppose that's why on that day, when Gram came, I took it as an opportunity.

A chance to make something happen.

It really was the beginning…

************

Impa burst into the kitchens and took a look around. The chefs stepped back in alarm and raised their hands pleadingly at the massive woman.

"I'm sorry Mistress Impa," one of the chefs whimpered. "she ordered us to let her do it."

Shaking her head, Impa walked over to the only person in the room that was still cooking. 

She was a very thin young woman, wearing bed-robes under an apron. The girl kept shrugging her shoulders, trying to keep her dirty blonde hair from tumbling from beneath a shabbily worn hair-net. She was cooking, or at least _attempting _to cook, something on a hot skillet. When Impa neared, the girl turned and gave her a gave her a shiny, greased-face smile. Impa shook her head again.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked.

"Cooking. Breakfast." The girl said. She raised the skillet off of the oven and offered it to Impa. "Omelets. Want some?"

Impa recoiled and brought a hand to her face. "Um…no. I don't. What did we say about you cooking?"

"Something about not burning the Castle down, and look, I've got the chef's watching me." Once again, the girl offered the…eggs…to Impa. This time the big woman took a step back.

"No thank you. I really think you should let the chefs make us breakfast, Zelly."

"And _I_ think youshould try some of these eggs."

"I told you no, didn't I?" Impa groaned, becoming anxious to leave before-

"I can order you to eat these eggs you know." Zelda threatened.

Impa crossed her thick arms across her large bosom and frowned at the girl. Impa was a large, big boned woman who moved like a girl several pounds lighter, her Shiekah heritage giving her grace and strength. She was also a powerful sorceress, and she wasn't easily intimidated. Even though she swore her life to the Royal Family of Hyrule, she wouldn't be intimidated by them either.

Even in the face of Zelda's…cooking.

"If you're going to throw me in prison, throw me in prison. But I'm not going to eat those…things.", Impa sniffed.

Zelda looked at her with big eyes. The girl was only seventeen, but she was already taller than her mother. Thin as a rail too, no matter how much she ate. She didn't have her mother's slim yet curvaceous figure. She did have her blue eyes though. "Why do you fight me so much when it comes to my cooking, Impa?" she asked sadly.

Impa patted the girls' shoulder. "Zelly, all people have something they're not good at-"

"Oh yeah? What aren't _you_ good at?" Zelda blurted.

"I'm…not really good at eating your cooking." Impa said with a smile. Zelda frowned and slammed the skillet back on the oven. "Zelly, you couldn't even get Moto to eat those eggs."

Zelda's frown deepened. "That's not true. Moto!" she shouted. From inside her robes, a tiny Keaton with huge ears skittered out and up to her shoulders. Zelda smiled and brought the skillet up to it's face. "Here, Moto, have some. It's good, go ahead." She cooed.

Moto sniffed at the simmering eggs once, twice, thrice…

And then it yelped out a "Ku!!" and hid back into Zelda's robes.

"Traitor." She scowled.

"Go, get ready for breakfast. Let these people do what they're good at." Impa told her. With a resigning sigh, Zelda dropped the apron and removed the hair-net, letting her straight hair fall over her shoulders, and rambled out of the kitchens.

Impa watched her leave and shook her head one last time. That girl, would never give it up. She seemed hell-bent on proving her cooking skills, even though she was the only one Impa could remember who could actually burn oatmeal. She sighed, and left the kitchens herself, beginning her morning rounds.

By the time Impa had finished breakfast and gotten into the full swing of her duties, her mind was still on the young princess. "_Poor Zelly_" she thought, "_sometimes she seems so unhappy…._"

************

After breakfast, Zelda was walking down the great halls of Hyrule Castle with her mother and brother. It was the same walk they took every morning, before they all went on their rounds. The Queen to begin on the affairs of the nation, Tibalt to tutoring lessons, and Zelda to…

Well, Zelda never really knew what she would do first. She didn't have a schedule like her mother, and that's the way she liked it. Zelda had almost completed her tutoring in the _Grand Stratagem_, (the complete rules of running a Kingdom) and she decided that her own schooling and scheduling would be up to her.

Her mother was too busy to do anything about it. She was basically too busy to care.

Zelda didn't like it. She hated it, and she let her know it on various occasions. 

"Impa told me that you were caught in the kitchens again." The Queen said, breaking the silence.

Zelda shrugged. "Yeah. I figured she would."

Her mother's crystal blue eyes flashed angrily. "This isn't about Impa, Zelly. How many times have I told you to stay out of the kitchens? You _don't _cook."

"Why not?" Zelda huffed. "For Nayru's sake, it's just cooking. I don't see why I have to be banned from it."

Her mother turned on her and reached up to Zelda's face with a slim gloved hand. Zelda was about five feet eleven inches, and had a couple of inches on her mother. 

Zelda did like that one aspect about herself; she could always look down on her mother.

Even though it never felt like she was. The Queen never gave her an inch. Queen Zelda could make the tallest man feel three inches tall.

Not only that, but Zelda was always self-conscious of the fact that she could look straight into the face of just about every young man in the Courtyard, instead of looking _up_ at them, like it happens with most couples.

Okay, so maybe Zelda didn't like that aspect about herself. Just another addition to the list.

For example, when the Queen reached up and took her daughter's face in her hands, she began to rub a thin powder over the freckles that dotted across the girl's nose.

"Well, I can tell you 'why not'." The Queen started, holding the struggling princess's face in place. "For one, we're trying to clear up your complexion, not harm it with grease and kitchen smoke."

"Stop it!" Zelda whispered harshly, completely embarrassed. She was glad only Tibalt was here to see this.

"And two, you can't cook to save your life."

"I said, stop it!!" Zelda whispered again, and she roughly pushed her mother's hands away from her face. She moved a hand up to her own face and started spreading the makeup. "I can do it myself."

The Queen looked at her with a half-smile and began the walk down the hall once more. "See that you do. And stay out of the kitchens, I wont warn you again."

"_What?_" Zelda thought incredulously. She turned on her mother with fury. "Give me something to do, and I'll stay out of the damn kitchens!", she shouted.

Her mother regarded her coolly. Undisturbed by her daughters language. "You have things to do. You're to learn the _Grand Stratagem_, like I did when I was a child.".

"I've been learning those stupid rules for years! I'm not a child anymore, and I'm ready for something else, mother!" Zelda voiced, keeping her voice to another angry whisper. "You got to do things when you were younger than I am-"

The Queen made a derisive laugh, something that always, _always _infuriated Zelda. "Oh, so you want to have more 'adventures'? Shall I open up a Dark World portal and throw you into it?"

"That's not-"

"You know, Zelly, you're right, you're _not_ a child anymore, and there are more grown up interests you could be pursuing-"

"I am _not_ talking about that again, mother!"

"Fight, fight, fight."

Mother and daughter turned to young Tibalt, who was quietly licking an orange scone. The eight-year-old looked back up at them impassively. 

"What?" he said. "You are fighting again aren't you?"

The Queen bent on her knees and smoothed out the boy's lustrous blonde hair. "No dear, we're not fighting." she lied. "We're just having a grown-up conversation."

"Yeah, runt." Zelda pitched in. "This is women's business. Besides, don't you have a class to go to?"

Straightening back up to her feet, the Queen turned once more to her daughter. "That reminds me. The Professor is ill, and he wont be able to tutor Tibalt today."

Zelda blinked, and started to smooth down her blue dress and robes nervously. "I don't like where this is heading…" she mumbled.

"I'll need you to tutor your brother this morning."

Zelda wanted to scream "_Why the hell didn't you tell me this before, instead of complaining and braying at me all bloody morning!!!?? Nayru, Din and Farore what is wrong with you!!!_" 

But instead, she stared long hard into her mother's eyes, her lips formed into a thin, cold line.

"There isn't a problem, is there?" the Queen asked coolly. 

Goddess, how she _hated _that.

"No problem, mother." She said, before taking Tibalt in hand and leading him to the study hall.

***

"You're too tough on her, Zelda." 

The Queen glanced behind her. Invincible was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, just a couple of feet away from her.

Zelda gave him a warm smile. "I can take care of my daughter, Link."

"I never said that you couldn't." Invincible said as he leaned off the wall and took a step towards her. "I just said that you're too tough on her." He walked up to her until they was only a foot between them. "It seems that ever since we lost Rile, you two have been out of sorts."

"I'm doing the best I can."

"I know." Invincible said softly as he squeezed Zelda's shoulders. "I… just think that sometimes, you're too tough on her."

Zelda smiled and held his hand. "We'll be fine. What about you? When will you be leaving for Hirocco?"

"This afternoon."

"Saria will be very happy to see you. What are you planning to bring Epheremelda*?"

Invincible chuckled and turned to walk away. "Ill get back to you on that." He told her, before walking back into the shadows.

************

"Okay, squirt, what was the last thing you were being taught?" Zelda asked as she spread books on the long desk. She had found them a secluded part in the large library so that they wouldn't bother the other Courtyard children being tutored.

Tibalt hopped up on a seat and grinned at her. "Games.", he lied.

"History?" Zelda said as she glanced through a few tomes.

"Um, no. Games."

"Okay, history it is." She smiled at the frown that crossed her brothers face and sat down from across him. "Stick that tongue right back in, mister. Now let's see…where to start…"

"Start at the end, so I can go play."

"Let's start at the start, shall we?" Zelda grumbled.

"I know all about the Goddesses and how they made the Triforce and all…"

"That's religion, Tibalt. This is history." She paused and looked into her book, then she gave Tibalt a sly smile. "I know, let's start with a subject all little boys are interested in: war."

Tibalt's eyes brightened.

***

An hour later, they had finished going through the Civil and Race wars of Hyrule, and the signing of the Hyrule Treaty and had just begun the history of the Imprisoning War. That's when Tibalt became a little sidetracked.

"Did you say Link?"

Zelda groaned. She saw this coming a mile away, but she had hoped Tibalt would just glance over it. "Yes, Tibby, the Hero of Time was called 'Link'."

"But…isn't Uncle Invincible's name 'Link'?" Tibalt asked, his little mind churning.

"Yes…but-"

"A-and isn't Uncle Invincible the Hero of …um…um…"

"The Triforce. Not Time-"

"But that would mean that Uncle Invincible's like…like… 100 years old!" Tibalt exclaimed. His eyes where shining. 

Zelda smiled. "You mean like a hundred thousand years old. But he's not." Tibalt was so cute when he was like this, and he looked so much like their mother. The same silky blonde hair fell around his face and curled near the ends: like their mother's, and his skin was pale and naturally smooth: like their mother's. He did have their father's face though.

Zelda thought about herself. Her hair was dirty in color and she used shampoo every day to bring out the shine in her blonde. There was also no curl to her hair, and she had to put it to the iron regularly. Her skin needed to be moisturized each morning to emulate her mother's smoothness, and she had the obvious freckle-thing going. She did have the same sapphire as her mother's, were very large, but slightly sunken-in. She didn't even see any of her father in herself.

It happened sometimes. Sometimes the child of a couple got various traits from the parents lineage, and not from the parents themselves. Zelda did have some of her mother in her, but she surmised she probably had traits from her father's parents or grandparents, not her father himself.

Zelda didn't mind. So she wasn't perfect like her mom. So what? She was still pretty, enough people told her so. Of course there was always the iconoclast. There was always those with a 'but'. 

"_She's very cute, but she hasn't got her mother's -insert trait here-_" 

Zelda was so tired of hearing that. She was tired of feeling that she had to look like her mother. She was tired of trying.

Zelda suddenly realized that Tibalt was staring at her, and she shook her head with annoyance. She often found herself trailing off into her own thoughts. It was beginning to become a nuisance. 

What were they talking about again?

Oh right. Something dumb.

"Tibalt, 'Link' was the name of the Hero of Time. Since then, every Cataclysm's Eve has had a hero named Link to rescue u- Okay, think about this." She began again, seeing that Tibalt was becoming confused. "The wielder of the Triforce of Courage is called 'Link'."

"Oh…I get it. So that means Uncle Link too."

"Yeah."

"Cause he's the Hero who beat all the Gerudo right?"

Zelda was aghast. "No-No! The Gahnim, not the Gerudo." she explained.

"They're basically the same." he said angrily. "I don't know why we let them in Castle Town. I mean, we're at war with them aren't we?"

Zelda looked at her brother sadly. "With the Gahnim, Tibalt. Not the Gerudo. The Gahnim killed our dad." She sighed, and wondered why no one else has explained this to the boy yet. Maybe they tried already.

The Gahnim had not been eradicated during the last Cataclysm's Eve twenty years ago. Even though most of them died during the crash of their Base, and even though a lot of the rest were jailed and rehabilitated, some survived and grew on the fringes of society.

A year after Zelda, Link and Liute had returned from the Dark World, the Gahnim made themselves known and declared war on Hyrule by assassinating her father, Prince Rile, as he rode horseback in the grove outside the castle.

The response was swift and uncompromising. Invincible and his First Knights rode into the small Gahnim base, in this case a group of Gerudo Gahnim warriors, and cut them down. Those who surrendered were spared, but Gerudo weren't really known for surrendering.

Since then, Tibalt had always bore a deep-seeded resentment towards the Gerudo. He could never dissociate them from the murderous Gahnim.

"Gahnim come in all races, Tibby: Hylian, Zora, Gerudo, even Goron. You can't blame an entire race for what a fringe of their population did."

"Why not?", he argued. "Didn't the Gerudo um… like cause all the wars in the past and stuff."

Zelda pursed her lips in thought. "Well…Ganondorf was Gerudo…and we did fight with them like I just told you, but the Zora were our enemies once. Even the Shiekah. Everyone makes mistakes." 

She flipped a book open to a beginning chapter and pointed out a picture to Tibalt. It was a portrait of Seven sages, surrounding a young man who held up a mighty blade. A swirling blue light surrounded him, and it seemed like they were all in the Temple, the one near Castle Town. 

"These people surrounding the man -Link, the Hero of Time- were the Sages of the land, and his closest friends. You have a Zora, a Goron, some Hylians -including a Zelda-, a Shiekah and a _Gerudo_." She eased the book closed and smiled at her little brother. "Even our Invincible has Gerudo friends. Mother's blood-sister was Gerudo. I know some Gerudo twins. You can't hate a whole group of people just because of what some of them did."

Tibalt frowned.

"Promise me you won't do that. You won't hate people. Promise?"

"Fine." Tibalt growled.

Zelda smiled. It's all she could ask for after all. She looked through the books again. "Okay, so what's next? How about we move away from war- The History of Festivals." As Tibalt took up his book, Zelda glanced at a clock, and the turned slyly to her brother. "Actually, that can be homework."

Tibalt's eyes brightened once more. "What's the homework?"

"Read the chapter…and try to keep it in your head for five minutes."

Tibalt pumped his arm with joy, and took his book to his chest. "Thanks, sister!" he yelled, and took off out of the Library.

Zelda sighed and rested her head on the table, her hair spilling over the polished wood. Finally, she was free to start her day.

It's too bad the runt had drained all of the energy out of her.

She'd get it back.

Eventually.

…she hoped.

************

She did get it back.

The main reason her energy did return is because the princess found herself a task. She emerged once more from her bedroom, this time carrying a small package.

Out of the blue, she called out: "Rocco!"

From the shadows cast on the walls walked out a young man garbed in armor. He shook his head at the princess, waving his short blonde hair, and smiled. "You don't need to shout, you know. I'm always near you."

"I know." Zelda grinned. She unwrapped the packaged and presented it to him. "It's for Epheremelda. What do you think?"

Rocco smiled a handsomely. "It's beautiful. She'll love it."

Laughing, the princess threw her arms around the knight and gave him a hug. Rocco stepped back, stunned.

"Zelda!", he stammered. "Please be careful." He tried to keep the enormous halberd he carried in his right hand as far from her as possible.

"Oh don't you worry. I'm not gonna cut myself on your big stick." She giggled. Glancing over his silver armor cased over jet black leather, she sometimes wondered how Rocco could move so silently. She knew _how_ of course, he had been trained. Still, she wondered how it was possible.

She unwrapped her arms from around him and hooked one underneath his. "Come on, Rocco dear, shall we go mail this?"

Rocco blinked. "You mean, go to Castle Town?"

"Of course." Zelda replied with a wink. "I think it's time for two lovers to spend some time together, don't you?"

From the smile on Rocco's face, she could tell that he greatly agreed.

************

As they passed the gates into Castle Town, Moto skittered out of Zelda's blouse and onto her shoulder. The Queen didn't really like the idea of a little rodent wandering around the castle on the shoulder of a monarch. Zelda kept it hidden whenever they were in the castle, which is why it very much valued the times when Zelda went outside the ivory gates.

Castle Town was as busy as always. People were bustling to and from bazaars, cafés, shops game rooms, inns and offices. Castle Town didn't just house Hylian residents. Sometimes there can be seen a Hylian, a Zoran, a Gerudo and a Goron playing cards in the parks. Quite a funny site. The Gerudo always seemed to win. The others would always accuse the Gerudo of cheating.

And of course they were right. 

Zelda knew about the Gerudo. They may be good and honorable fighters…but they _were_ thieves. You couldn't trust them with _everything_.

A cloaked Zelda and the guard Rocco walked around arm in arm, something Rocco was clearly uncomfortable with. It amused the hell out of Zelda though. Watching him squirm as she paraded him around the town always brought some joy into her heart.

Suddenly Zelda was bumped hard by another person. 

"Sorry." they said simultaneously. Zelda smiled and turned, but the person , a young man, was already on his way. Zelda frowned at his rudeness and continued. 

Finally they found who they were looking for. Heading towards the post office was a small young woman with dark red hair carrying a bundle of packages. "Talon!!" Zelda shouted out.

The girl turned and her green eyes met those of the princess. "Zel-" she began before cutting it off. She didn't want the whole town to know that Zelda was there. Instead Talon ran up to Zelda and took grabbed her hands in a hug. "Hey you. How're you doing? I haven't seen you in days."

"Hey" Zelda sighed, looking down at her. Talon was such a small woman, she always stood on her toes when they hugged. "I've been too busy…and not with anything useful either."

"Aw…" Talon soothed. Zelda noticed her eyes focusing on the silver armored guard behind him. She broke off her embrace with Zelda and walked tentatively towards the young man, took his hands in hers and smiled. "Hey…" she said shyly.

"Hey." Rocco responded.

Talon leaned her face up towards me, but then paused and glanced at Zelda. Zelda rolled her eyes and turned her back on the two to give them a little more privacy.

Geez, but those two could be a little more discreet. She could practically hear them tongue jousting each other.

When they were finally finished with their 'greeting', Talon took her by the arm and turned her around. "I was just about to have lunch. Let's all go together."

Zelda wasn't sure she was still hungry, but she supposed it couldn't hurt.

***

"Rocco I am so, _so_ proud of you. Becoming Zelly's personal guard is such an honor!" Talon exclaimed over the tail end of lunch, her freckled face beaming.

"I'd rather be of First Rank though…" Rocco admitted. Then he remembered Zelda sitting across from him with a hand to her chin. "Sorry, princess. I didn't mean-"

"Don't worry about it. I know being First Rank is every little boy's dream…even beyond shadowing the royalty." Truth be told, everyone was very impressed with Rocco. There was a time when the son of the First Knight Rocky was a bully and a uncouth jerk. But he grew up, grew into a soldier of impeccable skill and tact. Everyone saw him on the fast track towards the First Rank knighthood. They also saw him as the most eligible candidate for the knighthood and for shadowing in his age group.

Zelda knew that wasn't true though. He wasn't _the _most eligible.

The most eligible had left.

Zelda shook her head again. She wanted to keep away from that thought for as long as possible. Talon continued the conversation with the group, and as they talked, Zelda noticed a tingling in her right hand. She looked at it, and saw small random blue sparks emanating from her palm.

Moto, who was eating rich nuts off of the ground, turned up to her and tilted his head. Talon and Rocco stared at her hand with alarm. "Zelly?" the girl said. "What-"

"It's nothing, Talon." The princess grumbled. "It does that once in a while… ever since the Triforce…" she trailed off. They all knew what came next.

Since the Triforce was fractured. That which was perfect was made flawed.

It was the aftermath of Zelda's imprisonment in the Dark World. What all this meant for Hyrule in the long run, nobody really knew. But strange things did happen once in a while. People walking into doors and revolving out the same door, falling water _starting_ fires, people falling _up_ into trees. Magical powers sometimes sparking out of control, like it was now.

Zelda concentrated on her palm, but the sparks continued to cascade down. She got up from the table. Rocco followed.

"No, Rocco, you stay here and finish lunch." She said looking at Talon.

"But, princess."

"I'm just going back to the castle. Relax, I'll be fine." She paused. "Talon could you do me a favor. Could you send this package for me?" She handed over her present for Epheremelda.

"Of course. You just take care of yourself."

Zelda nodded. Waiting for Moto to jump up to her shoulder, she headed back towards the castle.

***

She passed the white gates into the courtyard and was nearing the entrance to the castle when her right hand flared. Bluish white energy burst out in a sharp point from her palm. 

"_What the-_", Zelda thought with alarm. She held her hand tightly and tried to hide the display from view. Of all the things going on in her life, she really didn't need to be seen as some crazy, out-of-control witch. "_Stop! Stop damn it!_" she ordered.

And it stopped. Gone was the light, replaced with a giant, thing shard of crystal. It was shaped like a wide curved blade, one that led seamlessly into a wider bottom with a whole near the side, as if for someone to use to grip the thing. Zelda was shocked.

A sword?

She'd never heard of anything like this before.

Zelda tried to remove it, to will it from existence. It didn't work. She swung it around a few times and tested it's weight. It was extremely light. She wondered if it was sharp.

This was getting ridiculous. She had to find out a way to get rid of the thing. What if someone saw her-

"Zelly?"

The princess spun around, placing the blade behind her back. A tall man with a silver tunic and long-tailed toque looked at her through dirty blonde bangs. A long, curved sword rested comfortably behind his back, and he stood with absolute authority.

"Invincible!"

"What are you doing?" he asked with a brown-eyed smile.

"Nothing! Um…you're back already?" Zelda gasped, keeping his gaze away from the object behind her back.

"Yes."

"How's auntie Saria?"

"A bit…frantic, but all right. What's that behind your back?" Invincible queried, stepping forward.

"What?"

Invincible's smile widened. "You heard me. I said what's that behind your back?"

"What's what?" Zelda stammered. She had to make it go away. She had to! "_Please, please don't do this to me. Nayru I beg…_"

She squeezed her eyes shut and shot out her arm. Invincible glanced at it briefly, and the princess opened her eye and peeked. There was nothing there.

"You're weird, Zelly."

"Don't remind me." she said with a nervous laugh.

"Hmm." Invincible hummed thoughtfully. He started back into Castle Town, giving Moto a brief pat on the head. "Don't play around with magic." He warned, before leaving the courtyard.

Zelda breathed a sigh of relief, and stared down at her palm.

"_What was that?_"

************

A brown-skinned young man sat by the fountain in Castle Town square and looked towards the castle longingly. He then glanced around to make sure no one was looking, and then placed his hand under the clear water.

There was a ripple, and a small image appeared in it. There was a woman's face reflected in the water, but her face wasn't clear.

"Where are you?" the face asked.

"In Castle Town" the boy responded, quietly and softly. He was still looking towards the castle.

"Good. Stay there. We'll get you into the Castle later." the face murmured.

The boy frowned. "The princess…"

"You saw her?"

"I think I bumped into her."

"You didn't try anything, did you?"

He let out a derisive laugh. "Of course not-"

"Mama! That man's talking into the water!!!"

The young man whipped his hand out of the water and turned behind him. A child was staring and pointing at him, yelling. He looked at the kid calmly and looked up at the mother who had come to pick him up.

"I'm sorry." she said. "You know kids."

"Yes." The young man said with a soft smile. "They have quite the imagination."

************

That night, as Zelda was sleeping, the crystal blade made itself known to her again.

She awoke from a dreamless sleep, panting heavily, and holding the sword in her hand. It was a sword, she knew that now. She also knew something else.

She knew it's name.

Gram.

Why it had come to her, and what it meant, she couldn't even begin to fathom.

It was only later, much later that she would learn:

This was the beginning.

************

*_Epheremelda was the name giving to Link's fairy in the Nintendo Power Link To The Past manga. I own one ^_^_

That's all for Chapter 1. Please review if you managed to get through all this. Thanks! (o'.')o


	3. Palta and Tella

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The Legend of Zelda: Her Story

Chapter 2: Palta and Tella

By: The Kirby Kid

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Disclaimer:

**__**

The Legend of Zelda™ is property of Nintendo of America/Japan

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Author's Notes:

I cut this chapter short cause I was getting tired. 

I have a proposition for some readers. You all know my character Moto. Well I'd like to get some Moto short stories. You know, he's not going to be on Zelda's shoulder forever you know. At sometime or another, he'll have to face his other Keaton kind. Not many other Keaton like him cause he's domesticated and he's a half-breed.

So, if any of you have some cute little Moto stories (for example, think Hamtaro), send them here and I'll add inside my chapter as an interlude. I'd only like a few of them, if you can spare some. Of course I'll give you absolute and full credit.

This is just a little request. Above all, thanks for reading, and reviewing! You don't know how much I appreciate your reviews.

Remember, if you need information on the history of these characters from my past fics, just check out the Chapter called '**History**'

************

For better or for worse, I was simply looked at as my mother.

I was a genius when it came to magic and strategy.

My mother was more charismatic, and she had more beauty, Though that was supposed to be in the eye of the beholder.

I was this and that, my mother was the other. Whatever it came down to, I was always compared with her. I didn't think it was fair.

Just because I shared her name, her legacy and even some of her face, it shouldn't have been happy with being just another 'her'.

I needed something to distinguish myself from her, from the name.

I **needed **it.

I guess, that's why when Gram came, I kept it a secret. When Gram came, the first thing I started thinking of was how I could use it to make me unique.

And then the twins visited, and I started thinking again.

Things were moving so fast…

************

Zelda had spent many hours in the Library for the few days after Gram had come to her. She was determined to find out just what it was. Was it a weapon, or was it some sort of symbol or sign? Perhaps it was just an extended magical flare, the result of a tweaked-out Triforce. Whatever it was, it was hers. Zelda thought that before she could enjoy it, she should find out what it meant.

Those many hours turned out to be hours wasted. Not in any of the hundreds of tomes could Zelda find a reference to a shining blade made purely of Wisdom. Zelda slumped her head to the library desk and sighed. Nothing. Nowhere. Moto was licking her ear, but she was too tired to notice.

Underneath the desk, Zelda stretched out the fingers of her right hand. Blue light flared into a wide curved crystal blade. Zelda couldn't see it, but she could feel it's light weight, it's cold touch, it's sharpness. The princess squeezed her eyes closed and thought grimly to herself. 

Gram. What was it? Where did it come from?

What did it want?

"Zelda?"

Her eyes shot open and she dispersed the blade from her hand in an instant. Calmly, as if nothing had happened, she looked up and saw Rocco standing next to her, giant halberd in hand. Zelda sighed. She knew that as her shadow, Rocco would be everywhere excepting her bedchambers. Still, he usually stayed out of sight. Not once during these many hours of researching had he interrupted her. 

Zelda noticed Moto chewing playfully on her ear, and she picked the little Keaton off. "Rocco…is there anything wrong?" She asked as she placed the creature on her shoulder.

"I was just going to ask you the same question." He replied softly. The man was the looker. Sharp, striking eyes. Short hair cut neatly, with two bangs falling over his eyes. Tall, fit, silver armor fitting him like a glove. Zelda could see why Talon was so enamored with him. Well, good for her. As long as she was happy.

She must have been tired. Her mind was wandering.

"I've been at this for the past few days, and you haven't said anything so far." Zelda said, stifling a yawn. "Why care now?"

Rocco shuffled his feet with uncertainty. "I'm sorry, I'm just concerned. You've never studied something like this before. You look exhausted." He made that look that someone made to get someone to look up at him. You know, the look; arching the eyebrows and leaning ones head towards the person ever so slightly? Zelda had no choice but to respond to the look and to gaze into his eyes. "Maybe I can help you?" Rocco suggested.

Zelda laughed, regretting it immediately. Zelda didn't mean to, she was just tired, but she assumed she must have sounded like a real…jerk…just then. "Sorry, Rocco." She sighed. "It's just…this is something I have to figure out on my own, you know?" Slowly, Zelda pushed herself off of the desk and onto her feet. "I think you're right though. I am tired, and I could use some rest."

Rocco smiled. "Sounds like a plan. I do my best thinking in bed."

Zelda smiled wryly. "Oh I'm sure you do. But for Talon's sake, spare me the details." 

"Princess!!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" Zelda laughed, surrendering her hands into the air. "It's the mental exhaustion talking. Sorry." She saw the look on Rocco's face and stuck her tongue out with a grin. Teasing the boy was one of her favorite pastimes.

Moto yawned in her ears, and his three tails flopped idly on her shoulder. It was late, and she would get some more ideas in the morning. She bade Rocco goodnight and retired to her chambers.

************

__

The never-ending void enveloped her. Several different people, of all races and types, walked out from between several tall pillars that dotted the void, and disappeared into the same pillars.

"Where are you?" she cried.

No one glanced at her. No one paid any sort of attention. They just kept on vanishing and manifesting from between the winged pillars. Some were ordained like the richest of kings, some wore their nightclothes, some in rags, and those in between.

"I know you're out there."

"Why won't you answer me?" she called.

Some people disappeared mid-step, returning to the waking world. Others appeared in the void, just entering their nightly journey. Throughout it all, he was nowhere to be seen.

She stayed for a few more hours, calling out into the void. At last the call came from her body, and she found herself being pulled back.

The light flooded the void.

"Why won't you answer me?"

************

Zelda's eyes fluttered open, and she rolled up from her bed slowly, almost crushing a groggy Moto in the process. Another night in the Dream Realm. Another night wasted. He never answered her, he never called back.

For the longest while, Zelda was worried that he might have been killed. She didn't know how, but it wasn't true. She knew it. He was still alive. Somewhere. 

He just didn't want to talk to her.

As Zelda rose and got ready for the day, she continued to think on this. She couldn't tell for the life of her why he didn't want to answer her calls. When Er Chike held her prisoner in the Dark World, talking to him through the Dream Realm was the only thing that kept her going. Zelda thought they had become so close.

And now, he just ignored her.

Well to hell with him.

An hour later she stormed out of courtyard and into Castle Town, more depressed than usual. She had hoped she could get a hold of Talon, but the postmaster told her the girl was busy on another delivery. Sighing, Zelda turned to go back into the Courtyard, when she noticed a disturbance near the Bazaar.

A throng of onlookers was crowded around a shopkeeper, who was yelling and screaming at an unknown party.

Zelda stepped closer to the commotion, and Rocco materialized closely behind her. "Shall I take care of this?" he asked her.

"Why? You don't have to worry about that. It's not your job." She said without looking back. She suddenly got a view of the others involved in the squabble. "I'll handle this." With that, she walked up, pushed herself through the crowd and between the combatants. There was the shopkeeper, and two young Gerudo women.

The women were identical to each other in clothing and in looks. They were both exotically beautiful; their eyes were large and slanted, and their reddish-brown color shone. Their hair was braided, and was bunched up in ponytails that fell just to the top of their necks. One of the girls had her hands crossed, and the other had a hand on her hip. They both looked at the shopkeeper impassively.

"Bloody thieves! I don't even know why the knights allow you in town!!"

"So then, why not you go ahead and kick us out, old man?"

"Damn Gerudo bitc- give me back my sash, before I-"

"What's going on around here?" Zelda interjected.

The girls turned to her, and the slightest smile crossed their lips. The man just ignored her and continued to yell.

"Hey!" Zelda barked. "I said, what's happening!?"

The shopkeeper turned angrily to her, and then jumped in place. "P-princess!" he stammered. With the presence of Rocco, the crowd had quickly dispersed. "Wh-Well these two stole one of my best sashes."

"We did not steal it, and it was not that nice of a sash."

"That's enough Palta." Zelda said tiredly. "All right, did you two take his sash? Really now." She turned to the girl with her arms crossed. "Tella?"

Tella turned to her with mischievous eyes. "No."

"I'm serious."

Palta turned to Zelda and held her ground. "Zelly, we are telling you, we did not steal any clothing from that man."

Zelda stared at the twins for a moment, and then glanced over to the shopkeeper. "They didn't take it. You either lost it, or someone else took it."

The shopkeeper was aghast. "But Princess-" he protested.

"Notify the authorities and they'll investigate."

The shopkeeper continued to stare at her. Zelda widened her eyes and gave the man a look, and the shopkeeper formed his mouth into a thin line. Finally, he turned and walked back to his display, glancing back at the three periodically and muttering something about 'hoodlums'.

Zelda whirled on the twins, trying not very hard to conceal a smile. Palta caught the look, sighed, and reached inside her black tank top and pulled out a small bag of cheap gems. "Hey!" she shouted at the shopkeeper.

As he turned, Palta tossed the bag towards him. He caught it, and Tella stared with her mouth agape.

"What are you doing?" she breathed to her twin.

"P-princess! I want to file charges."

Now it was Zelda's turn to sigh. "What for? She gave them back didn't she?"

"But-"

"Enough! No harm was done. Just go back to your business. Please."

The shopkeeper ground his teeth for a moment, before turning back and heading to his booth.

"I cannot believe you gave that man those beads." Tella scowled.

Palta wasn't listening. She was too busy staring up at Rocco, who looked down at her disapprovingly. Zelda caught her looking and a grin spread on her face. "First, Palta, he's taken, so forget about it."

"You presume too much, Zelly" Palta said with a smirk.

"Yeah right. And second, Tella, your sister was _returning_ those beads. What have I told you two about stealing here?"

Palta rubbed the back of her head and glanced over to her sister, who shrugged. "What is it you said? 'Keep it down to…something, something.' They both spoke with lilting accents.

"That 'something something' was supposed be 'down to _nothing!_'" Zelda shouted. The smile on her face betrayed her true emotion. "It's good to see you guys." She moved in and took in their hands.

The twins beamed at her. Palta glanced over at the shopkeeper, who was still glaring at them. "Are you sure that is wise. That miser might think your judgment was biased."

"Because you are our friend." Tella finished.

Zelda shrugged. "He'd be right. Hey, I get to do that. I _am_ the Princess. Who's he gonna complain to? That's right: me. He's got nothing." Zelda then threw her arms over each of their shoulders and grinned at them. "Now, who's up for some lunch?"

***

Beautiful and deadly, those were the words used to describe them. Well, at least to everyone else. To the other Gerudo they were a bit homely and deadly, since their noses were smaller than the average Gerudo. This was an unfavorable trait to the tribe, but to the rest of the world it enhanced their exotic charm.

However, the Gerudo tribe favored their deadliness over anything else. The twins were the strongest warriors alive in the Gerudo tribe. To be more specific, Tella was the strongest, and Palta was right behind her. While the younger twin Palta could never beat her big sister, no one else in the tribe could defeat her.

Truth be told: there weren't many people that Zelda knew in Hyrule that could stand up to the girls in hand to hand combat. Invincible, Lord Mikau, Liute, Rocco and of course, him.

The more Zelda thought about the girls, and these other people who could fight, the more she wondered about Gram.

Was this something she could do? Was it even possible?

"Mother Andala set us out of the Fortress for a while." Palta hummed under the rich aroma of a cup of steaming tea.

Tella smiled sleepily. "She thinks we are becoming too violent. She wants us to concentrate on other things."

Zelda blinked out of her thoughts and turned to the girl sitting across from her on the smooth round table. "What other things?" she asked, before thinking better of it. She knew the Gerudo, and she knew what the answer would be…

"Making babies." The twins told her.

Zelda groaned.

"Well, we are seventeen after-all." Tella shrugged. "But I'm not having any children until I find a suitable father. Still, that will not stop me from having a good time."

"You have too many 'good times', big sister." Palta whispered.

"You know, you should try it sometime. There are plenty of good-looking boys and girls for you to choose from. I can give you plenty of referrals." Tella said slyly. "You are too discriminate."

"And you are not discriminate enough!" Palta growled, unable to look into her sister's eyes. A half-hour was all that separated them at birth, but it was enough to put the air of superiority into her sister's aura. It annoyed Palta infinitely. 

"And you are such a prude you put these Hylians to shame." Tella blinked, embarrassed, towards Zelda. "No offense."

"None taken." Zelda said coldly. Though she agreed with Palta on this one. Tella did have a reputation even amongst Gerudo of being a bit…'indiscriminate'. Men and women could attest to that.

Tella's actions in the bedroom…or bathroom…or field, forest, cave, dune and rooftop mattered little to Zelda. She was still a dear friend, and being the strongest warrior in the Gerudo tribe gave Zelda another thing to look up too.

Still…

"You will never find a suitable father pussyfooting around, sister. You have to be assertive. Knock, and you will receive." While Palta groaned with frustration, Tella suddenly straightened up. "For instance, on our way here I saw a fiercely pretty girl walking away from a ranch…"

Zelda narrowed her eyes. "A Hylian with long red hair?"

"Yes! How did-"

"She's taken." The princess said, thumbing in Rocco's direction.

"Oh." Tella's muscles relaxed, and she slumped back into her chair. "That explains it."

"Explains what?"

"You don't want to know." Palta groaned.

Shrugging her shoulders, Tella chewed her full lips unconcernedly. "Well, at least I tried. If you asserted yourself, you would not be complaining right now."

"I am not complaining!"

Tella then turned her gaze on Zelda, and for some reason, the princess found herself blushing. "What about you Zelly? You are not taken are you?" She took Zelda's hand, and then Palta's. "I think you two would make a cute couple."

Zelda and Palta withdrew their hands from Tella forcefully. "No thanks!" the said simultaneously.

Once again, Tella slumped back into her chair. "I was only joking. Prudes." She mumbled. Apparently though, Tella was unable to let the subject die. Her eyes locked on a young man sitting by a fountain. "What about him, you two? He's a _man_…so he passes your first test."

Palta gave her a deadly gaze, and then looked over to the one Tella was talking about. He was a young man around their age. His skin was chocolate brown, like theirs. He wore a white sleeveless shirt, and grey baggy pants. He was a thin boy, but his muscles were extremely well defined. 

By his looks, he was definitely part Gerudo, but his most striking feature was his hair. It was short, and it fell over his brow like a mop, sharp bangs falling all around his head, just past his eyebrows. His hair was stark white, and the ends of his locks were black…like they were singed.

Zelda suddenly recognized him. He was the man she bumped into a few days before. The rude one.

Quite the coincidence.

Palta gulped quietly, and looked away from him and to her hands. This was the first time Zelda saw her like this.

"Palta. If you weren't so brown I'd swear you were blushing." The princess teased.

"Shut up."

Tella wore a devilish smile. "Well, go and greet him. What are you waiting for, a proposal?" she chided.

Palta said nothing and continued to look at her hands.

"Aw, Palty's shy." Zelda cooed.

"I am warning you…"

Tella slammed her hands on the table and shot up to her feet. "Fine. If you will not do anything, I will."

At this, Palta looked up to her sister, mortified. "No! You can't!"

"Tella! Geez you really have no shame!" hissed Zelda.

The older twin crossed her and shook her head with a smirk. "Relax. I am not interested, believe it or not. I will just break the ice. Watch this." Before her twin or Zelda could stop her, she dashed over to the boy boldly and sat next to him by the fountain. He didn't look up.

"Hello" she sang. Tella and Palta may have been identical, but their voices weren't. Palta's was high, on the girlie side, while Tella was smooth and sultry. Most thought it as another advantage of her seniority.

When the boy continued to ignore her, his gaze resting in the waters of the fountain, Tella leaned forward and brushed up next to him, her breasts rubbing against his arm. That got his attention. He turned slowly to look at her with a cool gaze.

"My sister really likes you, but she is shy. What about you?" She turned her gaze upwards with a look that would melt rocks. "Do you like what you see?"

The boy just looked into those eyes. He seemed unfazed.

"We are twins. If you like me, you will like her, you see-" she was suddenly cut off when the boy abruptly got up and began to walk away. What the!? That was a first. Tella quickly got up and caught his arm. "Excuse me-"

"Leave me alone." The young man growled.

Tella swung around to meet him face to face. "My sister is much more discrete than I am, if that's your problem. You cannot say you do not like what you see-"

"Do shut up." he said with a cold glare. He yanked his arm away from her grip and walked away into the west of Castle Town.

Tella turned to the table where Palta and Zelda were laughing uncontrollably. Fuming, she stalked back to the table and sulked back into her seat.

"He's gay." Tella huffed nonchalantly.

Zelda's fits of laughter became nearly hysterical. Palta had to cover her giggles with her hands, so as to not completely disrespect her sister.

"Well," Tella said, tossing some sunflower seeds into her mouth. "He is."

"Tella" Zelda said between gulps of air. "I don't think so. You just got burned."

Palta took in some deep breaths, steadied herself, then turned to her sister. "He seemed preoccupied. Do not worry about it."

Tella mumbled to herself. She didn't seem any worse for where. Tella was hardly disturbed by anything. Unlike Palta, Tella rolled with the punches.

***

The more Zelda looked at them, the more she liked what she saw. Strong women, with the ability to stand up for themselves and the confidence that exudes from that ability (Well, except for Palta's shyness). Zelda was powerful magically, but it was something that her mother and Impa had, along with a few others. Physical skill…that would be something unique. 

Up to the moment Palta and Tella bid farewell to her and started off towards the city gates, Zelda thought about Gram. This could be a gift, a sign to make a change.

Late afternoon, as she strolled back through the Courtyard towards the Castle, Zelda called for Rocco to walk beside her. "Hey Rocco, how is your bid for the First Rank going?"

Rocco frowned. "We'll find out in a week. Since I work in the day, my only chance will be during the fast-track sessions at night."

"Fast-track sessions?"

Rocco smiled. "An unofficial term. Basically those who want to can choose to go to a super-intensive training program for the Knighthood. You can even ascend straight to First Rank if you do especially well. It's very hard though. First Rank instructors. Even Invincible instructs sometimes, and they are harsh."

Zelda's mind was churning. "Oh…I'm sure you'll do fine. You're a knight already, you just want to get into the First Rank."

Rocco's grimaced gloomily. Zelda could tell that for some reason, he didn't share her sentiment. Still, the talk had give Zelda her idea. She knew what she was going to do with Gram. 

Obviously it wasn't a big mystery. She was going to join the Knighthood. 

There was a problem though. There was no way in heaven or hell that her mother, Impa, Invincible or anyone else would let her even carry a sword, let alone fight with men.

But there had to be a way. She'd just have to find it.

***

And she did find it.

Late at night, in the castle Library, she found it. Moto was perched over her shoulder, and if Zelda didn't know better, she swore he was reading along with her. In fact, if the little Keaton/Bombchu hybrid had not let out a loud "Ku!" at the time it did, Zelda would have missed it completely.

She took Moto up in her hands and snuggled and kissed it affectionately. "Good boy, Moto" she cooed. "You found it! Now I'm going to be a knight!"

"Ku!!!"

Zelda snuggled it even closer to her cheek. She was going to be a knight. Thanks to Moto, she had found the spell she needed to pass through mother and the others without concern.

It was called a Glamour. It was used by an ancient Princess Zelda of the past to transform herself physically into a completely different person. The Glamour was a very complex and tricky spell to learn.

And Zelda had a week to learn it.

__

That's all for Chapter 2. Please review. Later. (o'.')o


	4. Sheik

****

The Legend of Zelda: Her Story

Chapter 3: Sheik

By: The Kirby Kid

****

Disclaimer:

**__**

The Legend of Zelda®, **Roy™ **and **Fire Emblem® **is property of Nintendo of America/Japan

****

Author's Notes:

I'm introducing a guest star to my story: **Roy.**

A lot of you know **Roy **from **Super Smash Bros® Melee**. That was in fact his first (and so far, only) appearance on any game console. Roy hails from the kingdom of **Etruria**, and is a character from the upcoming **Fire Emblem **game for **Game Boy® Advance**. His sword is the **Sword of Seals**. 

Now even though I'm bringing in a character from another world…since the story has nothing to do with what's going on in Etruria, I don't consider this a crossover. Roy is just a guest star, that's all. Thanks for understanding.

Thanks a lot for those who reviewed, I appreciate it! Keep reading, and I'll see you in a week or so (or less, who knows?)

Remember, if you need information on the history of these characters from my past fics, just check out the Chapter called '**History**'

************

Learning to fight isn't nearly as glamorous as I had thought it to be. It had been, in fact very painful. I ended up being very tired and very sore each and every night since I had begun so long ago. But you know what? 

I thought it was worth it.

I thought it was worth knowing what I was capable of, and what I could accomplish.

It didn't matter if no one knew it was me that was doing all of this. It didn't matter if I didn't get any praise or acknowledgment from those who I wanted it from the most.

Like…mother for instance…

No, it didn't matter, because I knew it. I had the answer I had been searching for, ever since Gram came into my life. I was beginning to realize my purpose.

At least, that's what I thought at the time. The truth was, Gram was using me.

It was forcing me to learn how to use it, so that it's questions could be answered, so that it's purpose could be realized.

I had felt so proud of myself…and I guess I should have been. I did accomplish a lot.

I really did try.

**********

In the week before the First Rank knighthood nightly sessions began, Zelda had practically lived in the library. There she studied the Glamour like she had never studied anything before in her life. To others she seemed obsessed with something, but whenever someone asked her about this, she answered the same way:

"I'm smart, and I'm just trying to get smarter. Is that so wrong?"

The answer was just rude enough to get people to stop asking, but considerate enough so that people wouldn't hate her. It worked pretty well. Impa and her mother were used to that type of attitude from Zelda. Rocco and Talon were stunned, but they got used to it.

Zelda was sad she had to brush them off, but this was way too important. However, her deception gave her a chance to concentrate, and it seemed to pay off. She was getting the hang of the Glamour spell.

The Princess practiced the spell privately, usually in her chambers. She started small, at first, making diamonds appear to be pearls and soap appear to be shampoo. Then she moved into changing the appearance of the color of her bed-sheets, the wall, the carpet. When she gained enough knowledge and confidence, she moved to living objects.

Living subjects were more tricky to Glamour than inanimate objects. Again, she started small, making flies appear to be birds and changing the color of Moto's fur to a flamboyant pink. When Zelda had trouble unraveling the spell and returning Moto to his normal yellow hue, the little Keaton/Bombchu hybrid made known his anger by exploding several times, darkening her face with ash. Zelda learned how to manipulate fur pretty quickly after that incident.

Eventually she began to Glamorize herself. She brightened her hair, turned her eyes different colors, and removed her freckles without makeup. Zelda found it pretty useful, and when she learned to tie off the threads that composed the Glamour, she found that the spell could sustain itself. This could mean the end of make-up forever!

That in and of itself would have made the whole study worth it.

Two days before the beginning of the First Rank training sessions, Zelda found herself in the library again. She had mastered the first part of the Glamour spell; changing the appearance of things. Now she had to master the second; physically changing her looks and clothes. This required complex theory, some of it not documented in the library files. Zelda had to sneak into the Rune archives in order to learn more. This wasn't a big deal though, she's been sneaking into the archives since she had learned how to read.

Zelda began to experiment again on things like lengthening and shortening her hair, changing the consistency of her clothing, all the important matters that she would need to pull the stunt off. All it entailed was coaxing materials to rearrange themselves. That was the easy part, the hard part of the magic was keeping it going. It required a lot of magical energy. Luckily, that was something Zelda had down.

Finally the night arrived. According to subtle questions directed at Rocco, the sessions would begin around midnight. Zelda was pretty sure she was ready, but at the same time, couldn't hide her nervousness throughout dinner or evening prayer.

The Queen met Zelda as she was making her way to her chambers. "Zelly?" she started, bringing the girl to a halt.

"…Yes mother?" Zelda answered without meeting her eyes.

The Queen regarded her for a moment, before continuing. "Are you all right? You seemed a bit…quiet during the day."

Zelda looked up at her mother and smiled, before thinking better of it. She hardly ever smiled at her mom anymore. It might have made her look suspicious. "I'm perfectly all right. Just a little tired, that's all."

Again, the Queen regarded her. "You've been spending quite a bit of time in the library and the archives lately. Is there anything you want to tell me?"

"Well I'm smart, and I just want to get-"

"Yes, yes. We've all heard that from you lately. Don't you think you're being just a little pretentious?"

"_Yes_", Zelda thought. Still, she wasn't going to let _her_ know that. She instead arched an eyebrow and said. "Not really. Honestly mother, you don't give me anything else to do around here, do you?"

The Queen continued to look at her, seemingly unfazed by her daughters frankness. "Goodnight, Zelly." She said, before turning away.

Zelda showed her petulance by grounding her teeth. Nothing ever phased the woman. It was like she was made of ice, except that even ice sometimes melted. 

***

An hour later, Zelda was ready. Inside her bedchambers, she latched the door shut. She had done it every night for the past week, so that it wouldn't seem suspicious tonight.

She climbed out of her dress and into her nightgown. The less clothes she had on when she did it, the better. At last, she picked Moto up from the scruff of his neck and set him on her hands.

"Better back up, old man. This might get a little intense."

"Ku!" chirped Moto, and he leaped off of her hands and onto the nearby windowsill. "Ku! Ku!" he said again.

Zelda beamed at him. "Who knows, if this works I can use it on you." She linked her hands together and stretched her arms. "You can scare off that dumb cat that's always chasing you in the pantries."

"Kuooo!"

Taking in a deep breath, Zelda stiffened her arms to her side and looked to Moto one more time. "Wish me luck."

Her Wisdom welled up inside her body and flashed outward. Threads of blue magical energy whipped around and inside her form, distorting, warping and twisting molecules in a rush of wind. Her long hair shortened and became sharper, like straw. Biceps and thighs thickened. Her chest flattened and widened, and her shoulders were broadened a few inches. Her nightgown became a black and blue body-suit, with bandaged wrapped arms hands, legs and feet. A bandaged cap materialized and covered the top of her head, and a long grey scarf flew over her mouth and shoulder.

There was a flash of blue light, and Zelda fell to her knees with a gasp. When she finally caught her breath, Zelda checked herself out in one of the full-length mirrors that adorned her room. The image that met her in the mirror was that of a young male, dressed in ancient Shiekah gear. She felt up and down her arms, and down her chest. The Glamour was perfect, no one would know that she was a woman, that it was only an illusion.

"I did it." she breathed, before moving her hands to her mouth. Zelda realized that she had made a terrible mistake. All this time she spent on the Glamour to change her appearance, she had made no effort to change her voice.

Zelda continued to stare at the mirror, red eyes blazing. She cleared her throat thoughtfully. She could still pull it off, she'd just have to say as little as possible. She'd have to think before she said every word, and then disguise it normally. It could work.

She moved quickly to the windowsill, hoping that the week she spent practicing to walk less like a woman paid off. (_This plan ended up taking quite a_ lot_ of planning after all_). Zelda opened the large window and let the cool breeze hit her face. She gulped and tried to tone down the raging swarm of butterflies that invaded her stomach. 

It was time for action. She put her foot up on the windowsill, but was surprised when Moto jumped up on her shoulder. Zelda picked him up again and sighed. "Sorry, old man. You won't be able to make these trips with me."

Standing up on his hind-legs, Moto tilted his head and blinked at her confusedly. "Ku?" he asked.

"You'll completely blow my cover, you realize that, don't you?" she said softly as she let him down on her bed. "Stay here, old man. I'll only be a few hours."

Moto looked at her angrily. "Kuooo." His fur bristled, and air began to heat up around him.

"Oh, Moto don't do that-"

KA-BOOM!

Zelda wafted her hands through the thin smoke that filled the air and frowned at the burnt-out little Keaton on the bed. He was wobbling, straining to keep upright on his hind-legs. "Kuooo" he moaned dizzily. Zelda just shook her head.

"Old man…" Zelda groaned. "I left you plenty of treats. Have fun, don't get into too much trouble."

She turned her gaze out the window, several stories above the ground. Taking in one deep breath, Zelda leapt off and downward. As the wind whipped around her, she sent out threads of Wisdom to catch it and caress it around her body; invoking the spell of Farore's Wind. In a flash of blue energy she was snatched from the air and whipped to the ground in the space of a heartbeat. When the wind released her, she landed on the soft green earth without a sound.

"_Perfect"_, Zelda thought with a smile. She looked up into the brisk night air, and towards the courtyard. There was nary a sound that met her ears in this dead of night, and the guards that walked silently along their routines didn't see the Glamorized Princess as she bled into the shadows of the old brick castle. 

Gathering her will, she conjured Farore's Wind once more and made her way towards the training grounds. Unfortunately, the butterflies in her stomach weren't left behind with the rushing of the breeze.

************

Midnight was drawing near, and Roy watched as a two more individuals walked into the clearing in the woods next to the Courtyard. That made eleven overall so far. Eager young men, some even dressed in polished armor, eager to prove they deserve to be indoctrinated into the Hylian First Rank of the Knighthood. Another walked into the clearing, a girl, making the number now twelve.

Roy huffed and kicked some stray branches into the bonfire that lit up the clearing. He wasn't interested at all in becoming First Rank. However, he had heard a lot about the Knights of Hyrule, especially one Knight in particular. Roy needed this to get his mind off of the last couple of years of strife at home. He needed to relax.

However, Roy was a swordsman, and a very good one at that. Sitting still wasn't in his nature, what was in his nature was the sword strapped to his side. At the same time, coming to Hyrule could be the solution to both the problem of relaxing, while at the same time honing his skills.

Roy knew it wouldn't make a lick of sense to anyone he'd try to explain it to. That was okay though, nobody here knew Roy.

"Hey," a voice said beside him. Roy glanced over and saw a wide-eyed dark-skinned youth grinning at him. "Your ears are kind of small. Where are you from?"

"Oh…across the Ocean Realm; Emblu continent."

"Oh right. You're a human aren't you?" The other teen next to him said with a bit of awe. It was the only girl in the group, a waif with wild spiky silver hair. Roy shifted his blue thick boots uncomfortably. He rubbed his hand through his red locks.

"I suppose. It's my first time in elf country." 

"Elf?" The boy blinked. "We prefer '_Hylians_' around here."

Roy chuckled, and the girl growled, baring some teeth. He noticed her ears were even bigger than most of these elves…her forearms were more defined then the rest of her body, and her hands and feet seemed larger than normal. That was peculiar.

Still…of elves and Hylians, Roy wasn't really that concerned. "Boy, it's not enough the world is called Hyrule…but the continent, the country, the Kingdom…even the people? That's a bit much isn't it?"

The boy's eyes narrowed and he huffed angrily. "We consider ourselves the people of the Goddesses. That bother you?"

Roy put a hand up apologetically. He wasn't here to fight with the natives. "I didn't mean anything by it. I'm Roy, by the way."

The black elf reached out and grabbed his hand enthusiastically. "I'm Donnelley. Nice to meet you. Call me Don."

The girl also nodded. "I'm Bixenta. People call me Busy for short." She glanced over at the long sword sheathed at Roy's side. "So, why've you come such a long way? You fancy becoming a First Rank Knight?"

Before he could answer the question, two more entered the clearing. These two were older than Roy or the others. One of them was short and stocky and fitted with silver armor. The other was tall and fit. He wore a silver tunic and black pants. A long silver toque sat atop his head, covering some of his dirty blonde hair. He looked to be around forty-something, but his eyes flashed with the playfulness of youth.

This was the person Roy was waiting for. The one known as Invincible. 

Link.

"Sort of a sorry bunch we have here this time, eh Captain?" the short knight said.

"Oh I don't know…" the tall knight mumbled. "I'm sure there are a few here that could surprise us…" Invincible focused his gaze on Roy, who met his eyes cleanly, and kept very still.

"Prince Roy?"

Roy smiled. The man was quite learned. Roy stood up and bowed his head slightly. "I thought the only ones who'd recognize me would be the Queen and some of her attendants. I'm impressed, Sir Link." He extended his hand to the knight graciously. 

Invincible bowed deeply and shook the prince's hand. "I try to make it my business to know what the Royalty knows. That way keeping them guarded becomes much easier. Knowledge can be a deadly weapon, you know."

"I know." Roy sighed. "I just finished fighting a war against Bern. It was knowledge that won the day, more so than swords and shields."

"Prince Roy." The stocky man said. "I'm Adrel Fastis of the First Rank. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine, Sir Knight."

"Your highness…why have you come here tonight? I'm sure the Queen offered you VIP guest quarters in the Castle."

Roy smiled. "Actually, your Queen doesn't know I'm here yet. I was going to present myself to your Royalty tomorrow, but I heard this was going on tonight, and I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring."

Invincible arched an eyebrow. "You want to join our Knighthood?"

"Well…no. Not really." Roy said as he patted the sword at his side. "However, I'd like to prove that I can."

Adrel stepped forward to Invincible's side and crossed his arms. "I'm not sure how things work in Etruria…but joining the First Rank is not an easy task."

Roy's smile broadened, and he adjusted his blue and red cloak. "Good. I'm not used to easy tasks anyway."

Invincible smiled. "Then good luck, your highness."

Roy nodded and sat back down next to a stunned Donnelley and Bixenta. 

"Y-you're a prince?" they stammered.

Roy shrugged.

At that moment another person entered the wooded clearing. Roy chuckled, it was another blonde. It seemed this country was full of them. Back home, only about ten percent of people had that hair color. This blonde was a young man who wore a similar suit of armor as Adrel, and he carried a single-handed sword on his left hip, and a large halberd in his right hand.

Invincible smiled faintly. "Rocco. What're you doing here?" Adrel seemed to be interested in this too, as he inched closer towards the young man.

Rocco gulped and didn't look either knight in the eye. "Well…I came to try out for the First Rank."

"We've talked about this already, Roclard." Adrel huffed.

Rocco put a hand up to interrupt him. "I know we have…but I still think I can train for the First Rank and attend to me duties as a shadow…"

"I don't." Invincible said simply. Rocco looked stunned, and met his dark brown eyes. "There's no way you'll be able to spend all day looking after Zelda, and half the night training…"

"You can!" Rocco cried. "In fact, I never see you sleep. You're up and about all day."

Adrel let out a small laugh. "I really hope you don't presume to compare yourself to Sir Link." At this, Rocco looked down at the ground.

"How do you think this is gonna end up?" Don asked silently of Roy. Busy leaned in to listen in, when suddenly her ears pricked up and she turned her head east. Roy felt it too, and he jumped to his feet and went for his weapon; a double-edged sword with a three-foot blade and a winged cross-guard emblazoned with a red jewel. Rocco leveled his halberd and rushed towards the same spot. Roy and Busy moved too, and Invincible and Adrel drew their swords, shifting instantly to the same place.

At the spot they all converged on, a plume of smoke blasted from nowhere and spread apart in a flash and a whirl of wind. Out of thin air appeared a slight young man dressed in tight blue and black leather and bandages. His arms were crossed over his chest, and a incredibly long grey scarf billowed in the wind. He didn't move when Roy, Rocco, Adrel and Invincible's weapons were pointed to his neck. Roy didn't know if it was because he was fearless…or because he was scared stupid.

Roy got his answer when the boy opened one rose-red eye towards Invincible's long katana blade, and touched it with a single finger. "No need" the lad said with a low, overly gruff voice.

"Sir?" Adrel asked, without moving his blade an inch from the boy's neck.

Invincible paused for a moment, and then swiftly moved his sword away, sheathing it with a smooth movement. Rocco and Adrel followed his lead. Busy withdrew her fists, which had been cocked and ready to smash into the boy's face. Roy didn't really know what was going on, but he sheathed his Sword as well.

"State your name and business, stranger." Invincible said with the same playfulness in his voice that he always had. Roy couldn't yet tell when the man was being serious and when he was not.

"Sheik", the boy said. Invincible, Adrel and Rocco looked at each other, as if understanding some inside joke. Roy shook his head. Being the outsider wasn't easy.

"A Shiekah named 'Sheik'?" Rocco laughed derisively. He then leveled his halberd once more. "Tell us the truth. Who are you really?"

"I am, whom I am."

Again, Invincible and Adrel glanced at each other. "And your business?" The shorter man asked of the Shiekah.

"I've come to train."

"You've got to be kidding me." Rocco said, enraged. He turned to Invincible and gestured towards the Shiekah, who stood with arms crossed. "We can't just let any yahoo train for First Rank Knighthood. Shiekah don't fight anyway, they haven't fought for hundreds of years!"

Invincible pursed his lips in thought. "Perhaps Sheik here is just like Prince Roy…maybe he just wants to increase his knowledge of fighting styles." Roy blinked. He wasn't sure he liked being drawn into this.

Rocco stared wide-eyed at Roy, then at Sheik and then at Invincible. "You're making excuses for him! Sir…I mean…I'm confused."

"Maybe you need some rest then, Rocco. Why don't you go back to bed, you've got a big day taking care of the Princess tomorrow."

Rocco stared, mouth-open. "S-sir. I think-"

"Don't think." Invincible said coldly. "You will not be made First Rank until your duties as shadow are over, and they won't be over until I say so, and I will not say so." He walked up to the boy with his arms crossed, and went nose to nose with him. "Now, Roclard, remain the type of person my Talon can be proud of, and let this go. Leave, now."

Roy could tell by Rocco's expression that he was enraged. No…not just enraged, upset. The kid looked like he was on the verge of tears. But he let none show. Instead, Rocco nodded, turned on his heel, and stalked off.

Invincible then turned his gaze on the rest of the recruits who had showed up that night for training. He stared over Roy and the other twelve that gathered around the bonfire.

He started to pace around the bonfire. "Rocco, I can easily say, is one of the best young knights I have ever had the privilege of training…and he could easily become First Knight if given the opportunity. He's also dating my oldest daughter, and I love the boy very much." Invincible paused. "So I hope you all took in that little altercation I had with him, and take that as meaning that I will treat you much…_much _more harshly. This will be the hardest month of your life. Nobody will look at you any less if you quit at any time…even now. Truly, of the twelve of you I see hear now, I'm betting maybe eighty percent of you won't make it."

"And that's if you're generous." Adrel chuckled.

Invincible lifted a finger of acknowledgment, and let out his own small chuckle. "He's right you know. Check out the books. We have scores of knights…and they're fine men and women…but we have roughly a dozen First Rank. They're the better than the best, and they don't even answer to the Royalty. They answer to me…and I'm a very tough master."

"That's a lot of power for one man to wield." Roy said out of nowhere, something that horrified Busy and Donnelley. The rest of the young recruits started to inch away from the young prince.

Invincible nodded with a grin. "That's true. But I'm not just one man. I'm of Hyrule. I'm my wife, my daughters, the Queen, and her children. Those are my interests, and therefore they're the interests of the First Rank."

Roy had to admit. That was a good answer. He glanced over at Busy, Donnelley and the others. They all seemed a little nervous. All except for Sheik. He seemed to be a tower of confidence.

The young prince had to wonder why.

Invincible and Adrel then, to the amazement of everyone else, started to pass around parchment and pencils to the trainees. There were two of them; One was blank, the other full of questions.

"What the-" Roy started.

"Just a little something we'll be using to set the regiment. You know, things like weapon of choice, experience, medical conditions, why you want to become First Rank…things of the like."

What the point of all this was, Roy couldn't figure out, but answer the questions he did. He glanced over to Sheik, who for some reason looked very apprehensive about the questionnaire. Or was he apprehensive about writing…as if he had not anticipated holding a pencil at all tonight.

Roy didn't know why he should be. No one else had.

After he and the others finished their questionnaires, they handed the sheets back to the knights. Invincible took them in and glanced over each one very quickly. Roy didn't even think he was actually reading the answers that were provided. He spent less than six seconds on all twelve responses, and then threw them into the bonfire.

Stunned, Roy opened his mouth to speak, but Invincible beat him to it. "Now I know that you all think that what you're doing here is worth writing about….some of you more than others." He added the last part with a glance towards Sheik. Roy could only guess that the Shiekah had not written a lot for his answers.

Still, Roy wasn't satisfied with the knight's explanation. "What about things like…medical conditions?" he questioned.

"If you have anything that will prevent you from becoming a knight…you will not become a knight. It's that simple." Invincible crossed his arms once more. "As for the rest of the questions, well those will be answered for you and for us on-"

"On our journey through the training." Roy chuckled. "I got you. Very shrewd." From the corner of his eye, he could almost make out Sheik sighing. Why would he do that?

Invincible slapped his hands together to get their undivided attention, as if that were really a problem with the other recruits. "All right then, to your feet." He and Adrel Fastis unsheathed their blades, and waited for the rest to do the same. 

Invincible smiled. "It's time to see what you're made of."

************

Deep in the night, Zelda returned to her room using two quick spell castings of Farore's Wind. She stumbled a few feet while making her way to her bathroom. There, she slumped over the rail of the bathtub, panting painfully, and released the Glamour. Gone was the image was Sheik, and Princess Zelda…dressed in a plain white nightgown, was returned. 

She wasn't completely like she was before she put the Glamour on, though. He right eye was dark and swollen. Her lip was split and she had several bruises and gashes all over her pale body. Rocco was right: this training was harsh. At the same time, Zelda had never felt better than she can ever remember feeling. She felt exhilarated, she was learning so much…even from just one night, and it was from more than just books and papers.

Zelda had thought she was in big trouble when Invincible asked them to write. She was sure that he would recognize her writing…even though she had tried to mask it. Zelda was so lucky that he just threw them into the fire.

Drawing in a painful breath, Zelda unleashed her Wisdom and called upon the power of Nayru's Love. All wounds became healed in that instant, and with that sigh of relief, she made it back to her bed. She flopped and spread out on it when she abruptly wondered; where was Moto?

As if hearing her thoughts, the little Keaton popped out from under the voluminous sheets. He looked very tired himself, and he looked like he was wearing a crown of tiny leaves on his small head.

"Old man?" Zelda gasped. "What's that on your head?"

Moto snatched the crown off and hid it behind his back. "Ku!" he said in his happiest, cutest voice. Zelda blinked in confusion. Just what had he been up to?

Well…that's a story for another day.

************

"I think daddy's being so unfair to him. I mean, I bet a lot of those guys going their at night aren't even half as talented as Rocco." Talon complained. She and the Princess were seated in their favorite café in Castle Town. Rocco, who was shadowing the Princess in the background, groaned.

"Mmm-hmm." Zelda hummed, three-quarters asleep.

"Don't get me wrong, Zelly, I don't blame you at all. I mean, you're the Princess and you need the best to protect you…but why couldn't daddy let him train to be First Rank anyway?"

Rocco groaned again. "Talon please…don't bother the Princess with this."

"I'm not _bothering_ her! I think maybe she can talk to daddy-"

Raising up a hand, Rocco interjected. "She won't be able to do anything, Talon. Your father doesn't answer to the Royalty. He does what he thinks is right." He sighed woefully. "I have to admit, I think he's right too."

"Blah!" um…_blahed_ Talon. "Zelly, what do you think?"

"Mmm-hmm." Zelda half-snored.

"Zelda?" Talon tried again.

"Mmm-hmm."

"Are you sleeping with Rocco?" Talon said with a smirk.

"Talon!!" Rocco gasped. 

"Mmm-hmm." Zelda murmured.

Talon threw up her hands in frustration. "She's totally asleep. I bet she hasn't heard a word of any of this."

Rocco's face was red. "Still…" he squeezed through gritted teeth. "…that's not something you joke about!!"

"What? Oh, Rocco." She reached up and pinched his cheek. "You're just too sweet. I'm sorry, that was a bit rude. Let's try to wake Zelly up. Poke her with that spear of yours."

Rocco couldn't help but smile. "You know…how about -no! I'm not supposed to be here. Why don't you just give her a shove?"

Shrugging, Talon did just that. When Zelda didn't respond, she began to push her continuously. "Man, even Moto's out of it. What were these guys up to last night. Adventures in Dream Land?"

Suddenly, Zelda shot up and rubbed at her eyes and mouth sleepily. "Ugh…Mother's calling me back to the Castle." She got up to her feet, gave her friend a quick hug, and started quickly back to the Courtyard, leaving Rocco and Talon very confused.

On their way back, Rocco caught up with the quick moving Zelda. "Um, Princess, are you all right?" he asked carefully.

"Fine." She shot back irritably. "I…just didn't get much sleep last night, that's all."

Rocco nodded. "I have that problem sometimes, but we learn to rest on our feet. Princess, maybe you need to start taking naps."

Zelda smiled. After all her rudeness, and what the poor boy went through last nigh, he was still being so friendly. She was so jealous of Talon at that moment. "You know what, that's idea's not half-bad."

When they reached the entranceway to the Castle, they were greeted by the Queen, Impa and a young man in blue, shouldered leather armor. To his right side rested a large double-edged sword. He looked around Zelda's age, and his blue/green eyes were accentuated with large spiky red hair.

"Ah, Prince Roy." Zelda said, offering her hand. When she noticed the stunned look on his and her mother's face, she realized she made a mistake. Even though Zelda remembered him from last night, no one else knew that.

Roy shrugged it off and gracefully accepted her gloved hand and kissed it gently. "What they say about you is true, Princess, you are very clever."

"Too much for my own good." Zelda said with a smile. She sighed inwardly. This double-life thing was going to take some getting used to.

The Queen, as serene as ever, added. "Prince Roy hails from the Etruria Kingdom, across the great Ocean Realm…even though I'm sure you already knew that, Zelly."

Zelda gave her mother a terse smile and looked back at Roy, who was trying to comprehend what just happened between the mother and daughter. "So, your highness, what brings you here, and how long will you be staying with us?"

Roy shrugged. "Vacation, mostly. My people just got through a war a couple of years ago, and things are stable enough. My men thought I needed to get away though…and I've never been to Hyrule."

"An explorer." The Queen said with a dazzling smile. "That's very commendable."

"I think so too." Roy said cleverly. "I'm not sure how long I'll be staying. At least a month. I'm trying out for your 'First Rank' just to get the old juices flowing again, mind you."

Rocco growled, a sound barely perceptible to Zelda alone. She was glad Roy didn't have a Hylian's sharp sense of hearing.

"And how's that working out so far, your highness?" asked the Queen.

Roy thought about it for a moment. "All right, so far. Not at all what I expected. Your 'Sir Link the Invincible' is a very strong individual." He glanced over at Zelda, and then at Rocco, who had been trying as hard as he could to blend into the background. "This is going to be a very interesting four weeks."

Zelda wholeheartedly agreed.


	5. Solstice

  
**The Legend of Zelda: Her Story **

**Chapter 4: Solstice**

**By: The Kirby Kid**

**Disclaimer:**

**The Legend of Zelda®** is property of **Nintendo**. Buy their products! Buy their products!

**Authors Notes:**

You know what sucks College. I mean sure, you'll get a good job and everything when you're donebut it leaves little time for doing what you lovelike writing. Exams are closing in soon and everything is coming to a close for this year, so I thought I'd give this poor fic of mine a chance. 

To those who read this, thank youthis bud's for you. I really hope you enjoy this and all later chapters. I'm a little rusty, so I'm sure I've made a ton of mistakes. Feel free to point them out. Review, if you like. If not, that's cooleven though I will cry. Above all, thanks, and keep reading. :) 

Oh, and please forgive the formatting. I swear I didn't write it like this, but for some reason, when I upload it it's full of crazy spaces and no bolds, when there were bolds before. :(

************

Breathing heavily, Bixenta took a seat next to her sparring partner, the strange young man known only as Sheik, and took a sip of bottled water. Sheik was breathing very softly, and only the weariness in his red eyes gave any indication that he was tired. They had been sparring fiercely for the past half hour, and Bixenta, while still having a lot left to give, was pretty tired.

Looking sidelong at her battle partner, Bixenta had to admit; this Sheik fellow was a lot tougher than he looked. All throughout the session, the wiry youth had proven himself to be quick and durable. Bixenta noticed that the boy seemed more intent on dodging and avoiding her attacks than in fighting back. Still, Bixenta (or Busy as her friends call her) did manage to get a few good hits in, but when she did, Sheik recovered quickly. It was as if he wouldn't take staying down for an answer.

It was another brisk night in the training clearing near the Courtyard, and the 'fast-track' training session for First Rank knighthood had been going on for about three weeks. Bixenta was one of the few trainees who remained. Donnelly, her friend from a nearby village was still training, and she was glad for that. There were a couple of others, including Roy, the highly skilled prince of a far away nation. She continually wondered why he was even here, it was pretty apparent that Roy was as skilled as any Hylian Knightmaybe even as skilled as a First Ranker. 

To a direct contrast, Sheik was horribly unskilled when he started. The only things the young Sheikah had going for him was that he was unnaturally fast, almost as if a wind were carrying him around. The thought that magic might be involved made Busy nervousbut Sheik was a kind enough fellow. In any case, Sheik had improved greatly in the weeks he had been training, especially in the use of his long dagger. 

It was a weird weapon to be sure. It had no traditional handle, but instead had a wooden spiked ring that was attached to a slender triangle-shaped blade. It was Sheik's weapon of choice and he trained fiercely with it, as if learning how to use a weapon like that was of topmost priority for him.

As for herself, she didn't use any swords or daggers or spears. Her body was her weapon. Ever since she was a child, Bixenta was always physically gifted. Stronger and faster than the other kids, She was also teased because of her skills and her physical appearance. Anyone looking at her would see a slim, well-toned girl of average height with darkened skin and long spiky hair that projected straight back from her head, as if against the wind. Her ears were longer and sharper than the usual Hylian. In general, her appearance was almost feral. 

There was a reason to her appearance and her abilities, but there was no one here who knewat least not yet. As Bixenta looked up at the filling moon, she knew she could no longer keep it to herself. The Knights would soon have to know. 

She wished that Invincible had read her answers for the questionnaire handed to everyone on the first day, instead of simply burning them. Then she would have been spared the embarrassment of telling him personally. 

But it simply couldn't be helped.

"All right everyone, that's all for tonight," one of the knights suddenly spoke up. He was tall and garbed in silver tunic and long-tailed toque. It was the Invincible Knight, Link.

Bixenta and the other trainees got up to their feet, some more wearily than others. They stood attentively, however, as soon as Invincible started speaking again. "You've all done well to get this far, and we're nearing the end of this session. All of you have already proven to be good enough to take the Knighthood exam, but you've opted to take it up a level." At this, Invincible smiled and added, "and we're all glad you did. Hyrule could always use more First Ranked Knights."

The Invincible's smile fell off of his face and he glared at Bixenta and the others solemnly. "We'll have three more nights of sparring sessions, followed by three more nights of order training." He said, glancing off to the Knight at his side, Adrel Fastis.

"And on the seventh day, we have what we in the First Rank affectionately call your 'Friendly Death'," Sir Fastis said with a grin.

Bixenta stared in a daze. "F-Friendly Death?" she stammered.

"Yup," Sir Fastis said with a laugh. "We call it Friendly Death because at the end of it, we guarantee you'll feel like you've died."

"That'snot very funny," Bixenta said quietly.

Sir Fastis shrugged. "It's a soldier thing."

Roy frowned and crossed his arms towards the Knights. "We're gonna have to fight you aren't we?" he mused. "A final test?"

At this, the other trainees, even the unemotional Sheik, gasped. Throughout the weeks in which they'd been training, they had never once fought against the Knights in any true fashion. They had been lulled into thinking that that would never happen.

Bixenta suddenly felt queasy. Her? Against a Knight?

Not just a Knight; a First Ranked Knight.

Maybe even Invincible himself.

"Get ready," was all the silver garbed Knight said, before dismissing the trainees for the night. As everyone was leaving, he called out to Bixenta, who moved to him expectantly. He smiled down at her as she approached and said, "You wanted to talk to me?"

"Y-yes, sir," she said before glancing up at the moon. "Umit's something about" Bixenta sighed heavily and turned her gaze to Invincible's eyes directly. "There's something you have to know about me, sir."

Invincible simply crossed his arms with an ever-present smile. "All right Busy. Tell me what I need to know."

***

As she did every night since the training session started, Zelda slipped back into her spacious room in the glorious Castle of Hyrule without anyone noticing. She released the Glamour that sustained her Sheik disguise, healed herself with **Nayru's Love**, and plopped herself on the bed in exhaustion.

Everything had been going so well. She was learning how to use Gram with more and more expertise because of the training. Even though she was tired during the day because of her lack of sleep, she had never been higher spirits, and everyone seemed to notice. Now she was going to accomplish something huge: she was about to become a First Ranked Knight. 

It was obviously something she didn't plan on maintaining, but just making it would be accomplishment enough. Zelda even planned to tell her mother and Invincible that she was Sheik after it was all over. No one would ever look at her the same again after that, especially not her mother. After this she'd be forced to acknowledge Zelda as her own woman, and not just the Queen's daughter. 

Moto crawled out from underneath a large velvet pillow and nuzzled against Zelda's cheek. She cuddled him and thought some more about the coming days. All the results she wished to achieve were all assuming that she could beat Invincible or on of the other Knights in one on one combat. At this thought, Zelda draped an arm over her forehead and bit her lip. She hoped against hope that it wouldn't be Invincible she had to fight against. Fighting was an intimate act, and Invincible might actually recognize her through the Glamour if they were in battle.

Thator he'd kick the snot out of her.

In any case, it wasn't worth worrying about. She'd do everything in her power to defeat any Knight that goes against her, even if it meant using magic.

Moto began to lick her eyelids, something he always did before Zelda fell asleep. Far be it for her to defy his bidding.

************

"Zelda!" the Queen called out. It was just after breakfast as Tibalt's tutor was taking him to classes, Zelly was on her usual way out to Castle Town when her mother suddenly called for her. The girl stopped in her tracks and spun around to meet her. Queen Zelda strode gracefully towards her as if she were gliding on air. Despite the fact that Zelly was taller than her by several inches, it seemed like the Queen was looking down on her with her sharp beautiful eyes.

"Yes mother?" Zelda said, a bit tiredly.

The Queen ignored her attitude and began to walk beside her. "I wanted to talk to you about something," she started. "As you probably know the summer solstice will be occurring in less than a week."

Zelda blinked in surprise. She did know that, but she had completely forgotten about it. The summer solstice was the longest day of the year, and was a traditional day of great celebration. The summer was usually the most productive season of the Hylian year, and the solstice was greeted with parties that ran through the night. 

The princess pursed her lips in concentration. It had been unseasonably warm this month; maybe that's why she had forgotten all about it. Then she suddenly realized that the last day of the training sessions would take place one day _before_ the summer solstice.

Suddenly she had a queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Maybe she'd wait to tell her mother that she was Sheik until after this little dinner. Hopefully Invincible wouldn't beat her up too much before the dinner. In any case, she always had her Glamourif she could still stand that is.

"Iyes I know about that," she stammered.

"Well I've invited one of the Regents of Haiken to dinner on us that night, Halbard Nice and his family."

"Well that ought to be lucrative, making friends with Haiken I mean." Zelda said thoughtfully. "They a pretty good trading partner."

The Queen closed her eyes and smiled softly. "I think so too," she began quietly, " but I didn't invite them just for that reason." She looked up with a sharp focus to her eyes and slowed down to face her daughter. "I think we could always use some more friends amongst the sovereignties in Hyrule's many nations."

She paused for a while to gage her daughter's reaction, but Zelda merely shrugged.

"And it's an opportunity for you to meet some new people. The Nice's have a son around your age. June Nice, very good looking as I recall."

Zelda could only gape aghast.

"He's very clever, and not a bad swordsman. A little on the shy side, but I'm sure that'll change once he sees you."

"Mother!" Zelda squeaked. "Are you trying to set me up?"

The Queen smiled, but her eyes remained focused and serious. "You need setting up, Zelda. Before you realize it you'll be eighteen. How old do you want to be before you find someone?"

"Mother," Zelda repeated with some melancholy.

"You'll want to have a lot of time to raise the children you'll have, won't you?" The Queen said quietly while reaching for Zelda's face with a soft hand. "You do want children someday right?"

"I do," the princess exclaimed, pushing her hand aside. "I'm just"

"You're what?"

"I'mI'm just not looking for anyone at the moment"

"You're waiting for _him_ aren't you?"

At this, Zelda felt a chill run down her spine. She looked straight ahead, not meeting her mother's piercing eyes.

"I can understand it Zelly, you like him a lotyou may even think you love him, but he's gone Zelly." Queen Zelda again reached for her daughter's face and caressed it gently. "For years now. Maybe it's time to face the possibility that Link may not be coming back."

Link.

Zelda remembered her time in the Dark World, being held captive by Er Chike. She remembered the crippling loneliness that she had felt, even with Moto by her side. But then Link made contact with her, magically, with her mother's help. Link, the boy she had met only a few days earlier in the courtyard.

Link, that little kid with beautiful blue eyes, and shiny blonde hair; a boy who wore green as if it was the most natural thing in the world for him. Zelda didn't care about how the boy was mysteriously a spitting image of Invincible as a kid. She didn't care who he really was or where he came from. Link was her hero. 

He came for her when she needed help. During those lonely knights in the Er Region, they met in the Dream Realm, and talked and shared and grew closer together as friends. Zelda always regarded those times as something that saved her sanity, maybe even her life.

And perhaps she had gotten a crush on him. They were so young, only about twelve at the time.

Imagine her surprise when one day, several years after those harrowing events, Link came to her to say good-bye.

That he was going on a 'journey'. He never said where he was going, or when he was coming back. He just said good-bye.

He never came back. He left her all alone.

The Queen saw that Zelda was thinking about him, and immediately tried to ease her daughter's pain. "Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. He could come back tomorrow, who knows? But there's certainly no harm in meeting new people."

"Suitors you mean." Zelda groaned. "I-I guess it can't hurt. It's justyou know" she trailed off, looking to the ground. He cheeks suddenly turned red with personal nature of the conversation. She frowned and glared at the Queen's smiling face. Her mother could be so insidious. She had her spilling her guts out before even attempting to put a guard up.

"You can't always marry the first person you fall in love with, Zelly," she said with a wink. "Believe me I know. Your father's not the first person I loved, but I did love him, and I was happy all the same. I'm sure you'll be fine too, if you give it a chance."

"Yeah." Zelda grumbled. "Well, dinner right? I'll be ready."

"I know you will," Queen Zelda said with a pat to her cheek, before moving off to work on state business. With the touchy subject finally over, Zelda breathed a sigh of relief and shook her head. Everyone was trying to set her up, and she couldn't understand it. It was honestly the farthest thing from her mind.

Wellhe wasn't. He was always somewhere deep in the back of her mind. Lurking.

She wanted to get him out, but she couldn't bear to

With an angry grunt, Zelda continued down the hallway and to her daily routines.

************

It was midnight, and once again the trainees for the First Rank Knighthood stood in the clearing. They expected to be paired up once again for some sparring matches, but instead, Invincible and Sir Fastis stood quietly before them, and it seemed that they were waiting for someone.

Roy looked around, recognizing the faces around him. Exuberant Paris. Young Don. Solemn Facet, and silent Sheik. They all seemed as confused as he was. What exactly were they waiting for?

Then he realized that Bixenta wasn't amongst them. Before he could turn around to look for her, she emerged from the woods. However, she walked with a cold and harsh determination that he hadn't seen from her before. Along with that determination was also a look of anxiousness.

"Gentlemen," Invincible started out of the blue, "part of being a Knight of any kind is knowing exactly who your friends and team-mates are. What you don't know about the person you're putting your life in can kill you." He turned to Bixenta, who was standing silently beside him and nodded.

She stood for a moment longer, and then took a step forward. "When my mother was pregnant with me," she began, "she wasshe was attacked, by a Wolfos."

As the rest of the trainees looked taken aback, Roy rubbed his eyes in confusion. "Wolfos?"

"I guess you'd know them better as Were-Wolves where you come from, Prince Roy."

Don stepped forward urgently with his arms slightly spread. "Your mom, Busy, was she all right?"

Bixenta nodded. "Yes, she survivedbut I was born"

"So you're Werefos," Sheik said shockingly. Roy was stunned the kid just said more words now than he had ever said the entire time they were training. "Did you think we'd hate you for it or something? You should have told us earlier."

"All right, Sheik," Invincible said softly. "That's enough. I'm sure Busy isn't the only one here with secrets, am I right?"

With that Sheik once again became silent. Roy was marvelled. It was as if the entire exchange had not taken place.

"In any case, Busy will not be able to participate in the 'Friendly Death' on the scheduled day, because of the full moon on that night." Some understanding dawned on everyone's face with that statement. "During a full moon, Busy goes into a meditative state and is basically incapacitated during that phase. She does it for her own and everyone else's protection. Pretty brave and responsible of her, I'd say."

Invincible then took a little walk around the clearing, his long-tailed silver toque waving slightly in the wind. "And because it's essential that you all receive your 'Friendly Death' on the same day, we're going to push it back." He stopped and faced the trainees again. "That means it'll happen on the night of the summer solstice, when the moon is out of its full moon phase."

Roy caught a few murmurs of disappointment amongst the others, even Don. Glancing over to Busy, he could see how shameful she felt for causing so much commotion. Roy figured the summer solstice was a big deal to these Hylians. Roy shrugged and rubbed the back of his head lazily. 

"Okay, so we don't get to party that night. So what?" he began, giving Busy a wink. "I think a 'Friendly Death' will be a lot more fun anyway. What do you guys think?"

"Yeah!" yelled Don. "Party at with the future First Rankers!" The others bellowed their agreement and began to cheer enthusiastically, and Busy's smile was dazzling. Roy was glad he was able to make her feel better. Everyone now seemed fine with the situation.

Everyone except Sheik. He kept quite, as per usual. The young Sheikah seemed to be deep in thought. Throughout the rest of the training session, Sheik's eyes remained troubled.

***

"_Okay,_" Zelda thought as she dodged a right thrust from Donnelley, "_so the dinner and the final session is on the same night. I can handle that._"

Within her Sheik disguise, the young Princess made a hand gesture and disappeared in a wisp of wind, reappearing quickly behind her helpless sparing partner and delivering a hard kick to his back. Don rolled with the attack and sprung back with one of his own, which Zelda blocked horizontally with her Glamoured blade, Gram.

"_What's the worst that could happen?_" she thought as she parried two more of Don's attack. "_I'll be a little late for the session, but I can handle it. They always happen at midni-_"

Her thoughts were cut off when Don delivered a quick blow to her jaw with the butt his sword. Pain exploded behind her eyes and her mouth filled with the taste of copper. She stumbled backwards and fell hard to the ground.

"Woah," Don whispered. "I never thought I'd actually hit you Sheik."

Invincible, who had been watching the sparring patiently, crossed his arms and nodded towards what looked to him like a young Shiekah male. "Anything the matter, Sheik?" he asked loudly.

Zelda spat blood out of her mouth and rubbed it gingerly. "A little distracted," she answered simply. When Invincible continued to wait, as if expecting more, she added, "Won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't," the Knight said with a small smile, and he turned to watch to other spars. 

Letting out a sigh of relief, Zelda turned her Glamoured red eyes towards Don. She raised one finger, indicating the number of times he'd ever hit her.

Don seemed to get the message, and with a gritty smile, rushed at Zelda once again.

************

"So what have you got planned for tonight, Zelly?" asked Talon, as she and the princess shared their usual lunch down in the Castle Town Café. Rocco was with them too, but he wasn't eating. Only a few feet away from the girls, he had blended into the background and was watching the people as he watched by. He didn't think that they would, but anyone one of these friendly, smiling faces that walked by could be assassins', ready to strike within seconds, and ready to steal his princess's life.

Rocco didn't like the paranoia sheathed in that kind of thinking, but being ready for anything was a lot better than regretting it afterwards. This was his job. He was Zelda's Shadow, and despite how much he loved Talon, everything came second only to the Princess's life.

"We have that stupid dinner, remember?" the princess answered. She lifted a spoon to her lips and sipped disdainfully; seemingly at the thought of it. Rocco sighed inwardly. Zelda had been complaining about the dinner ever since the Queen informed her of it days ago. Tonight was the summer solstice, and it wasn't only the Royalty that had planned. Everyone in Hyrule had some sort of party being planned, even the trainees who were taking their final First Rank test tonight.

Again, Rocco sighed. He wished he could join them, but as stated before, everything was second to Princess Zelda. He was simply her shadow.

"" Rocco put the thoughts out of his head immediately. They were getting ugly, and he wouldn't allow them to interfere with his job.

"Well," Talon said whimsically, "Rocco's coming over and we're gonna have an 'early' party. Nothing planned for midnight since Rocco and daddy are on the job. Oh, and Romani's got yet another song to croon for us."

Zelda gulped down her soup and wagged a finger at her friend across the round table. "You shouldn't say that about little Romani. She's got a beautiful voice you know."

"She's got a big mouth, that's what she got. It's only beautiful when you don't have to listen to it sixteen hours a day."

Zelda giggled and leaned back on her chair. "Tibalt's the same way. He doesn't sing, but he can play a mean Triforce Knight. It's very cutethe first five hundred times maybe. Then it gets old. It's even worse when you have to play with him as Ganondorf's Evil Mistress." She sighed and slumped forward, with her chin in her hands. Rocco couldn't understand why she just couldn't sit still.

Then Zelda looked to her left, and Rocco followed her gaze. A young boy was sauntering by them. They had seen that boy several times in the past month. Brown-skinned in a white sleeveless shirt and grey baggy pants. His hair fell over his face like a mop in sharp locks; stark white with blackened ends. Rocco remember him bumping into the princess accidentally nearly a month ago, and he remembered watching him brush off one of Zelda's friendsthose Gerudo twins.

Maybe it was that paranoia again, but it seemed the boy had had an inordinate number of close encounters with the princess.

"Wonder where he'll be celebrating the solstice?"

Rocco moved his gaze towards Talon, as did Zelda. Talon looked after the boy as he disappeared into the crowd and added, "Do you think he's homeless?"

Zelda blinked and shrugged her shoulders. "If he is, there are plenty of shelters in and around Castle Town. At least, that's what the books say"

Rocco stepped out from the background, making himself visible to the girls, and spoke gently. "Don't make her feel guilty, Talon. Help is available for the guy, but only if he asks it."

Talon turned to him, aghast. "I'm not making Zelly feel guilty! I just pointed something out you big-" and with that she levelled a nasty punch towards his thigh. Rocco didn't bother to avoid it, and when it hit he found himself wincing. Talon was a lot stronger than she thought.

"Ow!" he groaned.

"Do you guys need some counselling or something?" said Zelda with a nasty smirk. "I wouldn't want this to escalate when you two got married."

"Oh, don't worry Zelly," Talon said, flashing her eyes towards Rocco. "He loves it when I hit him."

Rocco bit his tongue and looked away, his face becoming flushed. Making fun of him was Talon's favourite sport. Once again, he sighed inwardly. It wasn't a sport he necessarily hated either.

"Anyway," Malon started, getting up from the table and brushing the front of her dress. "I have to run. Have fun with your dinner, Zelly. And talk with that son of theirs. My mother tells me he's a real hottie."

Zelda's eyes bulged and she choked on some soup. Coughing and blinking tears, she reared angrily towards her. "She told her about that!?" she spat. Rocco assumed Zelda was talking about her mother telling Mrs. Malon.

Talon grinned and moved in for the kill. "Come on Zelly, don't be shy with this guy. You're not getting any younger, you know."

"WHAT!?" Zelda roared. Her eyes were nearly out of their sockets, and a huge vein was protruding from her forehead.

Before Talon could add more fuel to the fire, Rocco moved in and took the princess by the arm. "That's very nice. I'll see you later tonight, Talon." 

"_Not just a Shadow, I suppose_," Rocco thought with a smile, as he and a fuming Zelda left a smiling and waving Talon as they left for the Castle.

************

It was now evening, but you wouldn't know it by looking outside. The sun was still on its way to bed in the western horizon. Zelda expected as much. It was the solstice, and the longest day of the year.

Zelda assumed the guests would be coming soon, and she had her dresses laid out and ready. However, the dinner was the farthest thing in her mind. The 'Friendly Death' happens tonight, her final test to prove to herself and others what she could do.

Opening the palm of her hand in expectation, Zelda summoned forth the crystal sword she only knew as Gram. The long dagger crystallized into her fist effortlessly, and shimmered in the twilight. Zelda didn't know what exactly it was, and why she was able to create it, but she knew that if it weren't for Gram, she wouldn't have even thought about trying out for the Knighthood. It was such a huge opportunity.

She released the power from her hand, and Gram disappeared in wisps of blue light. Suddenly, Moto, who had up until now had been looking over Zelda's dresses with paws crossed, looked up towards the large doorway to the princess's room. 

In walked the Queen, once again without knocking, Zelda thought in vexation. 

"I know, I know, I should be getting ready. They'll be here soon, right?" Zelda said hastily. Her mother looked taken aback, and she stared back at her quizzically.

"I'myou're taking this seriously."

"Right," Zelda scoffed, before actually looking at her mother. She wasn't ready for the dinner. She looked regal and stunning, as she always did, but she didn't look exquisite like she did during special occasions. The hair, the dress, the makeup, nothing was on that level yet.

"Mother, why aren't you ready? You are going right?"

The Queen blinked and gave her a strange look. "Of course I'm going, but there's some time yet to prepare."

"What-"

"Zelly," her mother started softly. "This is a solstice dinner, you did realize that didn't you? We'll be having it around midnight."

Understanding dawned on Zelda's face; understanding, and horror. Midnight? That was impossible. She had a test at midnight. She was going to become a Knightat midnight.

"Whatwhat are you talking about?" she stammered, half in a daze. There had to be some mistake. Who ate dinner at midnight? Wellmaybe partiers and people celebratingbut who ate a full course meal at midnight?

But what if it was never intended to be a full course meal? A dinnerit could be just a simple gathering with snacks or something

The Queen stepped forward silently, looking her daughter in the eye. "I told you didn't I? I'm pretty sure I did. If I didn't, it should have been understood"

She trailed off when she heard her daughter mumble something. Hylian ears were sharp and very acute, and she caught enough of what Zelda said to become very uncomfortable. "What did you say?" she asked sharply.

Zelda gritted her teeth and looked her mother in the eye. "I said I'm not going." 

The Queen of Hyrule's eyes suddenly narrowed in a cold rage.

**Next time: **

**  
Sorry I had to cut this one short, but I promise I'll get the next part of this chapter up soon. It'll follow up immediately from this point. For those just into this fic, or those who have been with it from the beginning, thanks for your patience. I know it's pretty boringbut trust me, in a couple of chapters it'll pick up right quick.**

**See you next time! - (o'.')o  
**


	6. Final Exam Surprise

"What?" the princess asked of her mother with a quizzed look on her face.

"Zelly," the Queen started softly. "This is a solstice dinner, you did realize that didn't you? We'll be having it around midnight."

Understanding dawned on Zelda's face; understanding, and horror. Midnight? That was impossible. She had the final First Rank training session at midnight. She was going to become a Knight…at midnight.

"What…what are you talking about?" she stammered, half in a daze. There had to be some mistake. Who ate dinner at midnight? Well…maybe partiers and people celebrating…but who ate a full course meal at midnight?

But what if it was never intended to be a full course meal? A dinner…it could be just a simple gathering with snacks or something…

The Queen stepped forward silently, looking her daughter in the eye. "I told you didn't I? I'm pretty sure I did. If I didn't, it should have been understood…"

She trailed off when she heard her daughter mumble something. Hylian ears were sharp and very acute, and she caught enough of what Zelda said to become very uncomfortable. "What did you say?" she asked sharply.

Zelda gritted her teeth and looked her mother in the eye. "I said I'm not going." 

The Queen of Hyrule's eyes suddenly narrowed in a cold rage.

***

**The Legend of Zelda: Her Story**

**Chapter 5: Final Exam Surprise**

**By: The Kirby Kid**

**Disclaimer**: 

**The Legend of Zelda**®,** Roy**™ and all other subsequent characters is property of Nintendo of America/Japan. Buy their products. o_O

**Authors Note:**

Please review if you read. Thanks. –(v^-^) 

************

The young brown boy in baggy pants sat patiently by the babbling river near Castle Town. The boy knew patience too, well, and he knew how to exercise it expertly. This wasn't the first, nor would it be the last time his patience would be put to the test.

He glanced up into the twilight sky, the wind tussling his short white hair around his face, and sighed. The gates to Castle Town would be closing soon, but he didn't mind. While he was filled with patience, he was also filled with worry. Worry of the consequences of all this waiting and inaction. He didn't even want to think about it…he simply wanted to get to work.

The boy had been drifting around the town for about a month now. To most it seemed like he was simply a homeless drifter, living by wandering around aimlessly. They'd only be half right. Indeed, he was homeless, but he wasn't drifting. He was studying the layout of both the Town and the perimeter of the castle. He was also studying the movements of Hyrule's knights, especially those who silently and stealthily followed their important charges around. The one with the halberd who followed the princess while not noticing that he was watching. And of course, there was the one who followed the Queen most of the time…the one they called the Invincible Knight.

The boy's eyes narrowed, and at that moment the water in the brook stilled and shimmered in front of him. The boy looked down slowly and deliberately, and watched as a mature female face appeared in the waters surface.

"Tonight," the face said, before it rippled and disappeared back into the streaming brook.

The boy got up with the grace of a panther, and stalked his way back to Castle Town.

************

Zelda tried to ignore the ice and fire in her mother's eyes, and she stared at her face adamantly. "I'm sorry, mother, but no. I'm not going."

The Queen held no visible indication of stress or anger in her slight form. In fact, Zelda would have thought that she was taking the news rather well. That was the problem. The angrier her mother got, the quieter, and the colder she got. Both her and Tibalt have experienced the Queens anger, and they both knew how to recognize it.

The silence and the iciness in her mother's eyes told the tale. Zelda gulped inwardly and prepared to defend herself against a shouting match or some huge altercation. She had never seen her mother this angry before.

"You're…not going?" the Queen said simply.

Zelda opened her mouth, but she could think of nothing to say. Instead she glanced off to the side. 

The tension in the room could have been cut with a knife.

"Then," Queen Zelda began quietly, "what will you do?"

The fact that she was keeping her noise down was seriously unnerving Zelda. She crossed her arms beneath her breasts and looked down once more. "That's not any of your business," she practically whispered.

The Queen's eyes grew slightly before narrowing with a deadly intent. "What did you say?"

"I said it's none of your business," Zelda restated, a little louder this time. She wasn't about to tell her that she had been sneaking off nightly and that she had been pretending to be a Sheikah while training with Knights.

The Queen's arms flattened against her sides.  "None of my business?" she asked incredulously. "_None of my business?_" 

"Listen mother, there's no point in arguing about it. You don't have to get upset!" Zelda huffed and stretched an arm out soothingly. "Just tell the guests…that I couldn't attend, that I was sick or something. I'm sure you can figure something out…"

"Huh…" the Queen breathed. "You really think I'd agree to that?"

"Well it-"

"Shut up," the Queen bit out. Zelda was so stunned she took a step back at the stinging remark. Her mother had never, ever told her to 'shut up' before. However, her mother wasn't finished. "I think I've been rather patient with your impertinence, your…your _cheek_, up until now, Zelda." She took a step forward, causing the girl to take a step back. "Your…rudeness, your… arrogance."

Zelda was beginning to shake, a little with fear, and a lot with white-hot rage. How dare she speak to her like this? "I-I'm just being myself! I'm not trying to be anything else! If you think-"  

"You can be whomever you wish. All I ask is that I can _depend_ on you when I need you." Her mother's voice was a harsh whisper.

Zelda didn't budge. Her mother simply wasn't being logical. She had to make her see her side of things. "Listen! This…this dinner, it's not a matter of life and death. It's just…you just need me for your image. That's not fair."

"It's amazingly fair," the Queen whispered. "You'll soon learn that as a figurehead of the Hylian monarchy, image means everything."

Zelda was breathing heavily, and she paused and glared at her mother. "Image is…I can't believe what you're saying. Whatever, it doesn't matter. I'm not going."

She continued to stare at the Queen hard, and she began to feel that tension again. It was almost palpable. Her mother was silent for almost a minute, before she spoke up again.

"I'm going to give you a choice, Zelda," she began calmly. "You'll come to dinner," she continued, eyeing the wall behind her daughter's back, "or you'll go nowhere else tonight."

"Wha-"

Before Zelda could react, the Queen erupted with a torrent of shiny threads of Wisdom that seemed to strike out at every direction. Stunned that her mother would even consider attacking her with magic, Zelda ducked and put up a crystal Wisdom shield to protect her. However, she quickly realized when her mother's blue threads flew by her shield that this wasn't an attack meant for her. 

With a blazing speed and an icy demeanour Queen Zelda struck her Wisdom along the walls of the princess's room. The walls shook with a thunderous force, but nothing seemed to be happening physically to the surface. A horrendous fear crept into Zelda's heart, and she struck out with her own crystalline threads to pull at her mother's spell, but it was useless. Somehow the Queen slapped her counter-spell away with a frightening ease, and continued to work not only on the walls of Zelda's room, but seemingly the entire castle.

Zelda couldn't understand it. She was more powerful than her mother; everyone who knew of magic knew that. The raw power in Zelda's body was said to even dwarf her mother's. Suddenly she realized how powerful experience could be. She may be more powerful, and she may be more imaginative with her magic, but her mother has years of experience driving her. She was the very definition of Wisdom.

But whatever she was doing, Zelda wouldn't allow it! She would stop her!

She reached again with a multitude of Wisdom shards and wrestled with her mother's spell. The struggle ensued for about a second, before her mother gave in and let her weave fall upon Zelda's shield. The shield shorted out and Zelda was thrown to the floor, with her spell recoiling back into her with a snap.

As suddenly as it had begun, it was over. Zelda looked around the room with awe, watching as everything was tinged with a sparkling blue. A spell was covering the room, if not the entire castle. A powerful spell that her mother had not even bothered inverting to make it invisible. It was just there, taunting her, telling her that there was nothing she could do to break it.

"What did you do?" she breathed.

Her mother looked as if nothing as happened, not a single silky strand of hair was out of place. She turned and opened the door to exit the room, and before she was completely out of sight, she turned to her daughter. "Remember what I said. It's your choice." With that, she was gone. The door was left wide open.

Zelda rose to her feet, and followed her to the door, only to be shocked stupid when the door slammed shut on its own.

She stood blinking at the door, before reaching for it with a trembling hand. She turned and pulled, but the door didn't budge.

"No…" she breathed.

Pulling harder on the door proved to be useless. It might as well had been Moto pulling on the large oak wood. Becoming increasingly frantic, Zelda struck at the door with her magic, but the spells either dissipated on contact or bounced harmlessly off of it. Finally she began to call for help.

"Rocco!" she cried. "Rocco help me! Get me out of here!"

There was a loud crash against the door, and the doorknob turned uselessly before her Shadow Knight answered. "Princess, it won't budge…." came a cheerless voice from the other side.

"Get help, Rocco! Please…"

There was a period of silence, before Rocco answered again. "I've been told to let you be, Princess."

Zelda's eyes widened, and her mouth opened and closed wordlessly. "Rocco…" she finally squeaked.

"I'm sorry Princess. You'll be safe here. I have to go…"

She couldn't hear him, even with her advanced Hylian sense of hearing, but she knew he had left her. Tears began to well up in her eyes, and she blinked them away angrily and rushed over to the other side of the room. On her bed, Moto was watching her anxiously with sad eyes. "Ku", he mewled, but Zelda didn't hear him.

She instead moved to an open window, the same windows she used to leave the castle as Sheik at midnight, but as she approached, the windows slammed shut. Zelda stepped back in alarm, and then she attempted the pull them up or smash them with her magic. Nothing worked. "No!" she cried. She moved to another window, and another. They all slammed shut as she neared, and the ones that she moved away from opened once again. She tried every method of transportation and quick movement spell she knew, but every time she was denied an exit.

Finally she rammed one of the windows with her shoulder, and kicked at it hard using one of the techniques she had learned in the training session. She tried hard, but was bounced off like a rag doll. "_This isn't fair!_" she cried telepathically, slamming her fists hopelessly against the windowsill. "_You can't do this to me, you witch! You have no right!_"

There was no answer. Not even a whisper.

Zelda sobbed fitfully and slid her forehead down the wall before she crumpled into a trembling heap. Moto jumped on her shoulder and tried to console her, but she felt nothing. All she felt was despair and rage she had not known since Er Chike in the Dark World kidnapped her.

The countdown to midnight rolled down, and that despair was all she could feel.

************

Roy glanced at the miniature clock bound to his wrist. Nearly midnight, he gathered, about a quarter of an hour to midnight. In the thick brush of the forest around the clearing, they couldn't see the lights of the celebrating city, nor could he hear the voices and sounds of festivities coming from the town. 

There weren't many others around. The rest had decided that they weren't ready for the final test, especially knowing it's high failure rate, and decided to become Knights instead. Not a shabby choice, Roy mused. The Knights of Hyrule are highly skilled and well paid. However, those who remained endeavoured to be something more than a Knight. 

He glanced at Don and Exuberant Paris. (Not his name, but that's what they called the hyper-active teenager.) Roy had never bothered to learn the kid's full name, as he didn't really spend that much time with him throughout the sessions. Roy shrugged at the thought. Well he wasn't perfect…nor was he here to make friends.

Still, some friends he did make. He became pretty close to Busy and Don, and he even thought he had some sort of weird unspoken friendship with Sheik. This was the main reason why Roy's mind was churning impatiently as he waited also for the Knights to arrive. Where was Sheik…and Busy at that?

Half of his questions were answered when Bixenta walked into the clearing. Roy smiled; the girl seemed dressed for war. She had a large pouch that held small throwing daggers strapped to her side. Metal plates guarded her forearms and shins, and a special metal plate with the Hylian symbol for 'Wolf' guarded her forehead. Her waist above her bellybutton and below her breasts was wrapped up in tight bandages, and her shorts were of tight leather, bound at the knees. She wore curious sandals that allowed her toes to breathe.

Strange, but not unexpected. Busy used throwing daggers and her fists and kicks as weapons, so Roy supposed a change in gear was necessary. Roy and Don just came in the same armour they had worn since the beginning. The gleaming Sword of Seals sat lightly at his hip. Roy didn't figure they needed more armour. It wasn't as if they were going to be any fatal injuries.

At least he hoped.

Invincible walked into the clearing, along with another knight they haven't seen before. Everyone rose quickly to their feet, well everyone except for Roy. He did get up a tad slower than the others.

"What is this?" he drawled lazily as the other knight entered their field of vision. The knight wasn't a knight at all, Roy recognized him as the princess Zelda's shadow: Rocco, son of First Rank Knight Rocky.

Invincible looked up as if surprised. "Er.. What?"

The Prince of Etruria placed his hands on his hip and leaned back on his heels. "I thought you weren't going to allow him to take the exam."

Rocco's look could have shattered glass, but Invincible simply smiled and stretched his back. "Yes! You're right!" he exclaimed, before letting out a breath. "But…things change. It's the nature of things. Rocco won't be needed to guard the princess tonight…and since it's the night of the final exam, I thought he might as well take it, if he wanted."

Smiling darkly, Roy jabbed a look over at the teen. "You must really want this. I've seen that girlfriend of yours, very fine if you ask me. I would have assumed that you'd want to spend this special night with her."

Rocco's face took on a look of surreal rage, and Invincible smiled weakly. "H-hey…that's my daughter you're talking about you know?" he said pleadingly.

"No insult was intended Sir Link."

"Ah, good then. Rocco, get over there with the others." Rocco did as he was commanded, and stood next to the foreign prince. Roy brushed a hand through some flashy red hair, closed his eyes and smiled.

"So, why doesn't the princess need protecting tonight? Tell the truth, you just lost your job didn't you? Sneak in when she was chang-"

Without looking at him, Rocco reached over and snatched the human's tunic with a fist and pulled him up. Rocco was at least a foot taller than Roy, so the boy was actually lifted off of his feet. There was no amusement in the Shadow Knights eyes.

"Don't talk about what you don't know about," he growled venomously.

To infuriate him further, Roy put on the goofiest grin he could muster and put his hands up pleadingly. "Hey, hey," he cajoled, "I'm just joking brother! No need for hostilities."

Busy, Don and Paris were standing back, aghast at their behaviour, and Invincible was just rubbing his head with an expression of mild irritation. Finally, the Knight put his hand down and called to the others.

"Yo, save it for later. If you think you're frustrated now, wait until you take my final exam."

Rocco released Roy, who fell roughly to his feet. Roy didn't mind, he was excited that the test would finally begin. He glanced at his wrist-mounted clock again, around ten minutes to midnight. All of a sudden he realized that one of them wasn't there. 

Where was Sheik? He was expected to be here. There's no way a guy with his talent and confidence would be satisfied with simply becoming a Knight. Then again, Roy didn't really know the guy. Maybe he did opt out.

He put up his hand and spoke without waiting for Invincible to acknowledgement. "Er, Sir Link? Where is Sheik? Did he opt out?"

Invincible shrugged. "If he did he didn't tell me. He might have abandoned the exam, or he might be trying to be fashionably late. Whatever the reason, if he misses tonight, he'll leave with nothing."

Roy grimaced in worry. "Maybe we should wait for him then?"

Again, Invincible smiled and waved dismissively. "Nah. If he wants to show up anytime he can. Now, for the test!"

Everyone got into a defensive stance, as if expecting an attack. Well, once again everyone except Roy. He could see that from Invincible's posture that he had no intention of attacking. Instead, the prince crossed his arms and waited.

"Okay trainees, here it is." Invincible started loudly. "To pass this test, you must…"

Everyone waited with baited breath. Yes, even Roy.

"Grab My Hat!!!!" Invincible exclaimed, pointing to his silver, long-tailed toque.

They all tripped over something and fell hard to the ground, and when they got back up with bumps on their heads, they were angry. "Grab your hat!!!" Busy shrieked. "What kind of test is that!?" The others nodded their agreement.

Invincible was holding up his hands pleadingly. "Wait, it's not as easy as it looks. Now let me tell you the three important rules."

From a pouch that sat at his feet, the Knight produced a small cuckoo clock with a timer. He placed it at a rock near the sidelines and pressed a button. "I got this from my friend Saria's husband, a tinkerer of sorts," Invincible started with a smile. "It's a clock, but also a timer. It will go off in one hour." He then pointed at the other trainees. "You have until then to take this hat off of my head."

Then Invincible pointed to his sword. "The first forty-five minutes will be your real chance, because I will not unsheathe my blade during that time. However, after the first forty-five minutes, then I will defend with my sword! As you know, that'll cut your chances significantly, so you'd better hurry."

The others looked to themselves nervously. The second rule didn't make any sense. What did he mean 'after the first forty-five minutes?' Didn't he say that there was only an hour for everyone to take the exam? Finally Roy spoke up. "What the last rule?"

Dusting off his hands, Invincible rose and grinned again. "The third rule," he began, "is that everyone must try to take it at once. No one-on-one here. One hat, one chance!"

The others were thunderstruck. They murmured and glanced at each other until finally, Donnelly spoke up. "But…but there's only one hat."

"Yup," the Knight said with a smile.

"S-so…" Busy began to conclude, her eyes shimmering with regret. "So…only one of us can pass…"

Invincible said nothing.

Roy shrugged and unstrapped the Sword of Seals from his side. "In that case," he stated with a brilliant smile. "I quit."

"WHAT!!!???" shrieked Busy and Don. 

Invincible winced and put a pinkie-finger to his ear. "Hey…try to keep it down will yeah?" he pleaded. "I'm still a bit hung-over," he added inaudibly. 

Busy ran up to Roy and grabbed him by his tunic. His eyes bulged as the girl pulled him close. "WHY ARE YOU QUITTING!!!?YOU'VE BEEN HERE SINCE THE BEGINNING! YOU'VE ALWAYS ENCOURAGED US, AND NOW YOUR ABANDONING US? WHAT KIND OF PRINCE ARE YOU!" Roy's body swayed limply in the wind of her convictions. Invincible sat down and held his head in his hand.

"Please…Busy," Roy choked. "I'm doing this for you." Busy blinked, and then Roy swore she blushed a bit. "A-and everyone else!" Roy added quickly. He got out of her grip, picked up the Sword of Seals, and walked to the sidelines.

"I know exactly what this test is about," Roy shouted to the others. "And I think if you're honest, you all know that I'm on a different level than the rest of you, even Mr. Shadow." At this, Rocco grimaced, but said nothing. "It wouldn't be fair for me to take this test, and take your chances away from you."

The silver Knight was nodding his head to nearly every word. Finally, as Roy approached him, he rose to his feet. "Prince Roy," he began with the Eturian monarch standing tall before him. "I regret to say that you fail this test, and you'll not become a Knight, or a First Ranked in the Kingdom of Hyrule." He then put a hand on the prince's shoulder and smiled. "But, it's obviously safe to say you would have made a great one of either."

Roy returned his smile, nodded to the others, and took a seat near Invincible's timer.

Looking up to the dark sky, Invincible looked at each of the rest of the trainees: Bixenta, Donnelly, Paris and Rocco. 

As Roy unfortunately noticed, Sheik was nowhere to be seen.

What could have happened to him?

Looking at the Silver Knight, Roy had an unsteady feeling that Invincible knew exactly what was up with Sheik. 

In any case, if these four trainees thought that that only one of them could pass this exam, they were very,_ very_ wrong.

"The final exam," Invincible roared, "begins, NOW!"

***

The door to princess Zelda's room opened, the Queen appeared beyond the extravagant archway. She looked radiant, regal, everything you'd expect from the illustrious Queen of Hyrule. Small jewels of infinite quality adorned her silky blonde hair and neck, and a wispy cream coloured gown was draped elegantly on her form.

It was just past midnight, and the Nice's were to arrive at any moment. Zelda wasn't sure what her daughter had decided, but she decided there was no harm in finding out.

No further harm could have been done.

Locking Zelly up in that imprisonment spell wasn't the wisest thing she's done, and she had enough people telling her that after the incident took place. Link, Malon and Impa all thought that Zelda had gone way too far. She had to wonder what _they_ would have done if they were in her place.

She just didn't understand why Zelly just wouldn't talk to her, why she went out of her way to avoid conversation, and encourage confrontation. Zelda's frustration reached an insatiable peak at her daughter's words a few hours ago. 

Still, it was no excuse for using magic on her. It was almost an unspoken rule, that they never use magic against each other. Even though she didn't attack Zelly directly, she did overwhelm her with the Imprisoning spell. Zelda knew she only made matters worse with her daughter. She would not be forgiven easily, and she didn't expect her to participate in the gathering with the Haiken regents. Zelda was pretty sure her daughter would rather be locked in her room for a week, than look at her in the face.

So imagine her surprise, when her daughter was not only looking at her in the eye, she was astoundingly dressed. The necklace worn around her neck was deceivingly simple, but exquisite for the special occasion, and she wore a wide strapless white dress that flowed elegantly from her thin form.

Though none of her daughter's beauty was reflected in her eyes. Her eyes were sad and angry.

"Zelda," the Queen began.

"Let's go then. I assume they'll be here soon."

"Zelda, listen to me…" Her daughter just brushed by her and exited the room. The Queen followed her, and walking by her side, tried again to reach her. "_Zelly, I'm sorry but I had to discipline you. You're far too old for me to bend you over my knee, you know,_" she told her telepathically.

Zelly didn't respond, she didn't even look at her. The Queen kept a check on her temper and reached for Zelda, but she brushed her off.

"Let's just get this over with," she hissed, before moving off towards the greeting room.

"_Zelda,_" the Queen thought crossly. "_Please think._ _Do not mess this up._"

***

As soon as Invincible announced the beginning of the exam, all of the trainees vanished. Roy smiled, if he was involved, he would have done the same. It was obvious that they didn't want to take the Silver Knight head-on. Taking his toque by surprise would be the best course of action.

But not everyone had disappeared into the surrounding trees. Bixenta stood in front of Invincible defiantly, not a muscle trembling in the brisk cool night.

"_What is she thinking?_" Roy thought as he leaned forward to pay attention. He then saw her suddenly bring up her arms and clasp her hands together. Then her fingers splayed themselves in an interesting pattern, index finger-to-finger. She had her eyes closed, and her body was perfectly still.

"_A Seal!_" Roy figured. He didn't know that they had these in Hyrule.

In Etruria, some people preformed strange types of magicks by performing a special hand gesture that either connected the user to the ambient energy in the air, or by releasing a prayer to the Gods, or both. Roy learned that Hyrule was a land filled to the brim with all sorts of magic, and it made sense that some people here would use a similar method to seal magicks in their fists so that they could use them.

Where did Busy learn this? She had never displayed any skill like that before… 

And what Seal was she going to use?

That question was answered when Busy's eyes flew open, releasing a great amount of energy from her small body. "Farore!" she invoked. Roy noticed an immediate change in the air. He couldn't pinpoint it, it wasn't any denser, nor did the temperature rise or fall, but there was a change. 

Invincible seemed to notice it as well. His body seemed to become more relaxed, even though the bored expression on his face didn't change.

He didn't even move when Busy suddenly blasted towards him with frightening speed, leaving an explosion of dust in her wake. Before Roy knew it, she was on top of him, about to deliver a deadly kick to the face with a fierce right leg.

Invincible calmly brought an arm up to block the advance, and became wide-eyed when Busy suddenly burst into clouds of smoke.

"A shadow?" Invincible gasped.

Roy blinked and gaped when Busy appeared out of the blue behind the tall knight, hanging upside-down in mid-air and reaching for the toque. The Knight almost seemed to be standing still compared to her speed, and couldn't seem to move as Busy reached for the prize. Roy leaned forward in anticipation.

Not to his surprise, Invincible then vanished. Busy fell hard to the ground where Invincible was, and rolled to her feet with fists clenched.

"Not bad," Invincible said from behind her. He was crouched at his knees and he wore a small smile. "You almost had it."

"Not good enough!" Bixenta turned around and levelled a backhand that was easily deflected by the silver Knight. Roy was astonished as he watched the girl wail at the Knight with several linked and highly damaging moves. However, right kick, left punch, right elbow, right stab, everything she threw at him was parried. Roy never knew Invincible was this adept in hand-to-hand combat.

Busy delivered a roundhouse kick that caught nothing but air, and then clasped her hand together into another Seal.

"What?" Invincible started.

"Farore! Din!" she invoked, and the air changed again, this time also becoming denser. From the mist jumped out several other Bixenta's, and each of them were flying towards the Knight with an attack at the ready.

Roy grinned and smiled inwardly. He understood now. The Goddess of the Wind and the Goddess of Fire working together to create illusions that could actually attack; it seemed like it was a very complicated skill for anyone to make. Busy must have been some sort of a natural…or a genius when it came to this kind of magic.

However, the illusions wouldn't last long. One flew by Invincible as he moved to the left, one flew over his head as he ducked, and one exploded on contact when he punched it straight in the gut. He was disadvantaged when each one exploded, as it emitted a very thick cloud of dust.

Then in the midst of the chaos, Invincible spun and kicked out straight. From the dense cloud of dust burst Bixenta, and she hit the ground and rolled to a stop. Cursing under her breath, she finally got up and faced the Knight again. Invincible had his back to her.

The reason he wasn't facing her was because he had other things to worry about. Don burst out of the trees to his right and tried for a straight tackle. When the Knight calmly reached over to take him, Don skilfully dodged to the right and hit the ground running. Again he leapt at Invincible, and again as he reached for him, Don dodged. Then Don was behind him. When he turned his head up and reached for the toque, he ended up grabbing at nothing.

Roy grimaced as he watched this. "So fast," he thought grimly. "He's almost unnatural."

Don and Busy looked around the clearing for the Knight, and as they did they bumped into each other. Busy turned around to face the black elf and growled menacingly.

"Stay out of my way, Donnelly."

"Hey, it's everyone for himself," Don retorted. This brought out another growl from the throat of the young Bixenta, and before she could spit back a response, Invincible was on them. 

"The time is…12:15. You have forty-five minutes left. Do you think you have any time for this?" he whispered with a smile. 

Busy and Don's faces blanched, and they immediately jumped into the woods for cover. Invincible shrugged, crossed his arms and waited.

"_Wow, this guy's impressive,_" Roy thought grimly. Maybe taking the test wouldn't have been as easy as he thought. Still, the trainees just weren't doing it right. If they were…

A large Halberd shout out from the canopy and sped towards Invincible's toque. He spun around and snatched it from the air with ease, only to be blasted in the stomach with a hard punch from Rocco.

Invincible doubled over, and Rocco reached for the toque with a quick hand. It wasn't quick enough though, and Invincible roared forward with a vicious head-butt to Rocco's forehead. The halberd was flung aside as Rocco tumbled to the ground with an ugly bruise.

"Hmm… maybe I went too far," the knight said to himself as Rocco rose to his feet.

"It…. isn't over yet…Sir Link," he spat.

Smiling kindly, the Silver Knight reached over, picked up Rocco's Halberd and tossed it back to him. "Maybe not. But in thirty minutes, I draw my sword."

His smile was actually frightening. "Then it will be."

**Next Time: Final Exam pt 2…. plus…. Assassin!**


	7. Assassin

"_Wow, this guy's impressive,_" Roy thought grimly. Maybe taking the test wouldn't have been as easy as he thought. Still, the trainees just weren't doing it right. If they were…

A large Halbered shout out from the canopy and sped towards Invincible's toque. He spun around and snatched it from the air with ease, only to be blasted in the stomach with a hard punch from Rocco.

Invincible doubled over, and Rocco reached for the toque with a quick hand. It wasn't quick enough though, and Invincible roared forward with a vicious head-butt to Rocco's forehead. The halberd was flung aside as Rocco tumbled to the ground with an ugly bruise.

"Hmm… maybe I went too far," the knight said to himself as Rocco rose to his feet.

"It….isn't over yet…Sir Link," he spat.

Smiling kindly, the Silver Knight reached over, picked up Rocco's Halberd and tossed it back to him. "Maybe not. But in thirty minutes, I draw my sword."

His smile was actually frightening. "Then it will be."

***

**The Legend of Zelda: Her Story**

**Chapter 6: Assassin**

**By: The Kirby Kid.**

**Disclaimer:**

The **Legend of Zelda®**, **Roy**, is property of Nintendo. I hate bugs.

**Authors Notes:**

If you see any 'semblance to anything you've seen in the great anime series **Naruto**, then you're not mistaken. I borrowed a little here and there. Call it a tribute to a cool manga.

***************

"Now I must say, this country always seems to have the best weather conditions," Regent Nice of Haiken said as he sipped a cup of Koromele Tea. "Do you know how much it's raining right now back in Haiken?"

Mrs. Nice laughed and said something along the same, and the Queen just smiled and laughed along. Zelda said nothing; her face was a mask of complacency. Throughout the dinner Zelda had been the perfect hostess. She smiled when she needed to, laughed when it was appropriate, and was as charming and as pleasant as she had ever been.

It was fake, all of it. Her responses were purely robotic, and she was beginning to tire of it. The truth was, Zelda was numb with rage over what had happened, and this numbness, this complacency was turning into weariness. 

It wasn't as if the Nice's weren't good people, they were obviously very…well…nice. The Regent was a clever man, round in stature and jubilant. His wife was also of a portly nature, and as the stereotype goes, she was also very kind and jolly. Their son, June, was similar in personality only. He was tall and fit, with short brown hair falling over his forehead, and with equally dark piercing eyes and a smooth smile. Zelda had to admit; he was pretty handsome, if only in a logical sense. But Zelda wasn't interested. She wasn't interested in this party, in June, or even in the First Rank exam that was taking place at this very moment.

Right then, she was just tired.

"So…um…princess?" June began shyly, " have-have you ever been to Haiken?"

It took Zelda a while to answer him. "…Yes."

June seemed taken aback with her hesitance. "Um, what'd you think about it?"

Zelda didn't answer immediately, and her silence caused the others to look at her expectantly, and her mother to stare at her coldly. "I…don't know. I think it was a while ago…"

"_Zelda_," her mother told her telepathically, " _play a little nicer, if you please._"

The princess looked to the ground angrily and frowned. June looked at her with worry. "Are you all right, princess?"

"June, you're a swordsman?" Zelda asked suddenly.

The young man was taken aback by the sudden question, and he answered carefully. "Well, yes, I am…"

"Ever kill anyone, June?"

Everyone was stunned, frozen into place. The queen's face became pale. June wasn't stunned though. Surprisingly, the usually shy boy answered expertly with "Well, my mother tells me I'm a lady-killer…but I try to be humble."

The stunned faces softened and warmed and finally fell into a hearty laughter. The queen also began to laugh gently, but her eyes retained their sharpness. 

June smiled and reached for Zelda's hand. "Well, princess, I was wondering if I could bother you for a dance?"

Looking him over once again, Zelda sighed and patted his hand. "Listen June, I'm think you're a great guy and everything…but you don't want to dance with me. In fact, you don't want anything to do with me." She smiled gently and added. "You've no idea who you're dealing with."

"Zelda, what do you think you're doing?" rang the voice of her mother's voice inside of her head. Before she could add anything, Zelda rose to her feet and faced her mother with a slight smile.

"I'm talking aloud now, mother, so if you have anything to say, open your mouth and say it!"

This time, even June was stunned.

Zelda turned to him with a gentle face and began picking off points with her fingers. "I'm selfish. I'm petty, I'm not pretty enough and I don't work hard enough at hiding it. Let's see, I'm rude, offensive, and um…oh what was that word mother? Oh yes, petulant." She glanced at the queen, and then back to June, who was squirming uncomfortably in his seat. Zelda almost felt sorry for him. "Truth is, I'm not someone you can rely on. Just ask my glorious mother; she'll tell you everything you have to know. Until then, all I can suggest is that you set your sites somewhere else." When she finished, she glanced at everyone quickly and then began to take her seat again.

"_Get out. Go to your room, and stay there._" 

Zelda laughed malevolently. Like she had any choice.

"Enjoy your damn party," she whispered as she fled from the chamber.

As soon as Zelda entered the room, the door slammed shut behind her. The indecency of the situation, the rage and despair that she felt when she became a prisoner in her own home, suddenly unleashed itself from within her.  She struck out with her magic, shattering a body-length mirror with sheer will, sending thousands of shards of glass flying across the room. 

Letting out a guttural scream, Zelda reached for and threw the pottery from her night table, statuettes, jewel cases, dolls, and vases across the room. The sounds of destruction was almost overwhelming, and Moto, who was on his usual perch on by the windowsill, quickly leapt up to the top of the window and quivered. Zelda didn't see the fear in his eyes. Zelda only saw red.

She bunched her small hands into fists and slammed them on the surface of her large night table, again and again, before staring at the tearstained reflection of her in the other large mirror.

"Image is everything!?" she raged. Her right hand flashed a bright blue, and Gram materialized from her fist.

Finally, she yelled, "_Image is everything!?"_ and with her left hand, she grabbed her hair in her fist at the neck, pulled it in front of her, and with Gram, she sliced across.

Then, there was silence. The only sound of the room was Zelda's heavy breathing. She stared at herself in the mirror, and then to her left fist, which was holding her limp hair with a death grip. Again she looked at her reflection.

Her hair now parted from her forehead and fell across her face, ending jaggedly around the nape of her neck.

"Oh no," she cried.

What did she do?

Was she insane?

Her hair…how could she have done this to herself? As a child, she remembered waiting impatiently to take off the bonnet it was customary for children to wear so that she could have her long hair wave elegantly behind her. Zelda loved having long hair. She thought it was beautiful and she didn't know anyone that didn't.

She stared a moment longer into the mirror, and she felt the strands of hair in her fist fall to the ground through her loosened grip.

Falling to her knees, the princess of Hyrule buried her head in her hands and sobbed silently.

***

In exactly one minute, Invincible was going to draw his sword.

The exam had not been going well for the trainees. Their strikes at the Silver Knight, while inventive, entertaining and intense, were useless. None had gotten any closer than a good reach to his toque, and things were only going to get harder.

Don, Busy and Rocco all stood across from him in the clearing, panting heavily and wincing at some of the blows they had received. They all had their eyes on the prize, and they all knew that it would soon become a whole lot difficult.

Then, to Roy's delight, the three of them rushed the knight at the same time. "_Finally,_" Roy thought gleefully. "_I think they get it_!"

But it wasn't to be. As Busy shifted left to deliver a front-kick, she got in the way of Don's own sword attack. He rolled out of the way to keep from getting trampled. As Busy went for the kill, Rocco's Spinning Spear cut her off as he rushed ahead of her and shot forward with a strike. Busy was forced off of her feet and she rolled on the ground while Rocco attack.

Invincible reached up with both hands and caught the blade of the Halberd in his palms. With a grunt, he heaved it off to the side, as Paris, the only trainee not to make an attempt for the toque, jutted from the tree slashing at the Silver Knight.

With lightning-fast reflexes, Invincible drew his slender blade from the sheath strapped to his back, and nailed the trainee in the stomach with the end of the handle. Paris's eyes bulged and he fell to the ground hard, before rolling to his feet and stumbling backwards away from the Knight.

"I might have been a little early," Invincible grinned. "Hey, Roy. How's my time?"

Roy glanced over to the clock on the rock slab and then back to Invincible. "You're just on time. Fifteen minutes left."

The trainees vanished at the sight of Invincible's blade, and Roy didn't blame them. There wasn't much time left now, and with the sword out, it would be impossible. Invincible's skills and power seemed to grow exponentially when he had a sword in his hand.

From what Roy heard from others in Hyrule, Invincible was half-Gerudo, and he learned fighting techniques from many different ghosts of individuals known as Hero's of the Triforce. The first hero, the Hero of Time, was said to be extremely skilful and brave. People said that the **Triforce of Courage **drove these men, and that is why they seemed impossible to defeat.

It was rumoured that Invincible destroyed a small army of insane cultists known as **Ghanims** when he was just fifteen years old, and that with only a little helped, he drove back an entire **Ghanim** floating island and the seemingly unstoppable force inside of it. 

There was no doubt that Invincible was a remarkable individual, and that he had deep loyalties to the Hierarchy of Hyrule. Now the trainees had to see past all of that and realize the fact that _no one _was invincible. Anyone could be stopped; it was all a matter of seeing it. They had to discover how to see it. Roy knew it could be done.

Five minutes passed, and no one attempted a strike. Roy knew it could be done, but whether or not these trainees did was another story. 

Time was running out…

***

Busy sat silently in the leaves of a nearby tree, hiding carefully from Invincible's sight, and looking for an opening. Several times she saw him stretch and yawn, and even scratch his back. They all looked like openings, but she knew they weren't. It was all a face. She knew that if she tried anything, he'd slice her in half.

She was so frustrated she bit her lip and bled to keep from doing something stupid. There had to be some way. Maybe if she... no that wouldn't work. What if she… forget it, that wouldn't fool him.

All that time spent practising her Seals; the legacy passed on from her father to her…it was all going to go to waste. She was going to fail and there was nothing she could do about it.

The thought was almost unbearable.

Suddenly there was a light poking at her arm. Busy didn't have to look to know it was Don. She smelled him coming miles away.

"Hey…hey…." He said as he poked her repeatedly.

Busy growled. "What is it?"

"You know, you know we can't do it right?"

Busy growled again.

"It's impossible. You know that right?"

"…" Busy murmured with a trembling lip. "I know," she finally admitted.

"Yeah…I didn't want to admit it…but you're right."

Busy turned, startled, and saw Rocco sitting in the leaves behind her. How was she not able to smell her?

Right…he was a Shadow Knight. Good for him, he couldn't get the toque either.

"Listen, listen," Don spoke up suddenly. "There's only one hat right, so three of us are going to fail anyway, right?"

Busy and Rocco said nothing.

"So then, even if one of us can get the hat, at least we would have gotten it off, right?"

Bixenta's eyes brightened. He was right of course. They could at least get that damned hat off of him. She smiled at Don, and then at Rocco. "What have you got in mind?"

***

Five minutes left. Invincible was yawning, with his hand resting on the hilt of his blade. It wasn't looking good for the trainees. There was not one attempt after Invincible had drawn his sword. It was as if they had just given up.

"_Come on guys,_" Roy pleaded mentally. "_You can do this, don't give up now._"

Apparently, at least one of them heard him. Bixenta appeared in front of Invincible, again with her hands fixed in a Sealing position.

"Farore! Din!" she blasted. The air changed, and out of the blue blasted at least ten versions of Bixenta. They all attacked Invincible head on.

Somehow, the Knight seemed to know exactly which Busy was an illusion and which one was real. He attacked without mercy at the fake ones, slashing their heads and arms off with quick vertical and horizontal slashes, before kicking Busy down to the ground. The fakes exploded on contact and Busy rolled to a slow stop.

Then Rocco appeared atop a canopy of leaves. He soared into the air and flung his halberd at the knight with frightening speed and accuracy.

Invincible drew his sword and parried it perfectly. With a loud clanging sound, the Halberd crashed against Invincible's immovable blade, and spun in midair…

…And with a poof, it turned into a spinning Bixenta.

"What!?" Invincible and Roy said in unison.

Seizing the moment, Busy grabbed Invincible's arm and held on to it for dear life. Before the knight could even struggle, Rocco was on his other arm. Twisting the sword out of his hand, Rocco held on to him with both of his own arms and pinned him in place.

Roy rose with elation. Invincible was pinned! How was it possible? He immediately realized the answer. It was the Seal! Busy preformed a Seal to create illusions of herself, but what Invincible didn't know is that she performed one to make her appear as Rocco's Halberd's. As the Halbered was deflected by the Knight's parry, Busy was able to sneak up to him completely unnoticed.

Then Don leapt down from a tree, carrying Busy's bag of daggers. He reached into the bag, and with a deadly accuracy, flung two daggers directly at the knight's head, one below the other.

Busy and Rocco immobilized Invincible, and he couldn't move as quickly as normal. Just before the daggers connected, he was able to duck his neck. He avoided the daggers…

…But his toque didn't. They were pinned directly to the tree behind him.

And from the top of that tree, a small hand jutted forward to claim the prize. It was Paris. The one who had hardly attacked before.

Roy saw what was happening and cheered. They were going to do it. Time was almost up, but it was going to be done.

Or not. With uncanny strength, Invincible flung Rocco and Busy off of his body, reached up and grabbed Paris's hand, and flung him across the clearing and into the rest of the trainees.

They tumbled amongst themselves for a while, before getting back up to their feet. As Invincible put his toque back on, the others nodded to themselves wordlessly, and they prepared for another joint assult.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The piercing sound of the clock going off alarmed even Roy. The trainees stopped their attacked and looked unbelievingly at Roy and the clock next to him, and Invincible's hand shot into the air.

"That's it! The test is over!"

Busy fell to her knees, not believing it was actually over. Paris fell backwards with exhaustion. Rocco gripped his Halberd with an ever-tightening grip. 

"Damn…" he whispered.

Don said nothing. He simply stared forward, not really seeing anything.

With a happy smile, Invincible took a step forward to the decimated trainees. "So, you weren't able to take my hat off me. I have to say, I'm pretty disappointed."

The expression on the trainees' faces spoke volumes. Invincible blinked in confusion and rubbed a finger to his temple. "H..hey, what's the matter? Why isn't anyone saying anything?"

When no one answered, Invincible repeated his question more forcefully. This time, Bixenta answered. "Sir Link…we're quiet because we failed your test. Please don't rub it in, okay?"

Invincible looked genuinely confused now. "Huh? Failed? Who said you failed?"

Now it was the trainee's turn to blink, and they glared at him in puzzlement.

"Remember what I said before? That part of being a Knight is knowing who your team-mates are? Well, part of being a Knight is also being able to trust them to sacrifice everything for your sake, and to complete the mission." Rubbing his nose, Invincible continued to explain. "You all figured out that taking me on one by one was impossible. Individually, you're all very impressive. Rocco's skill with a Halberd is better than anyone I've ever seen. Bixenta, your hand-to-hand techniques and Sealing ability are simply magnificent. Don, you seem to have the knack to pick up almost any and every skill, and Paris, your full of energy and extremely intelligent on the battlefield. All of your individual skills are impressive…" He then grinned and rubbed the back of his head, "but they couldn't do anything against me."

"So…knowing that you couldn't take me individually, and thinking that only one of you could take the hat anyway and pass, you decided to work together, sacrificing your own want to pass the test, and attempted to take my hat with a joint effort. It didn't matter who got the hat, as long as it was taken, and the test was passed…or as I would say, the mission was completed."

Invincible then put his fists to his hips and pointed to the trainees. "And that is exactly what a good Knight would do!!"

As understanding dawned on their faces, the trainees began to brighten and smile gleaming happy smiles. "You sacrificed your own personal agendas, and finally decided to work together to go for the hat. That was what this test was about, and I am very happy to say, that you all passed with flying colours!"

"Welcome to the First Rank!"

Roy smiled as he watched the trainees…no, the Knights…throw their hands up into the air jubilantly and cry out with Joy. Rocco was hollering at the top of his lungs, something about 'wait till Talon hears about' something or other. Paris was dancing wildly, and Don was simply rubbing his eyes, trying not to be overcome with emotion. Busy tackled Invincible and squeezed him until his eyes bulged out.

"Wait a minute," Paris suddenly said in mid-dance. "Sir, why did you say you were disappointed that we didn't take your hat if we passed?"

Invincible squeezed his way out of Busy's grip and shrugged. "Ever since I began this test many years ago, not a single person has been able to take the hat. Taking it was never the real point of the test…but…" He sighed sadly, and slumped his shoulders. "You guys were a good group. I thought you'd be able to do it." Then he straightened and hollered "ATTENTION!!!"

The others quickly got into line and stood at attention. Invincible nodded approvingly. "As Knights of the First Rank, your first mission will be to relax tonight! You've all earned it."

As the others dispersed, Busy came up to Roy and took him from the arm. "Come on! We're going to Castle Town to celebrate at the Knight's Tavern. There's gonna be a huge party!"

Roy smiled and patted her arm. "I don't know if that'd be appropriate, uh, Lady Bixenta. I'm not a Knight after-all-"

"Don't be stupid!" Busy growled. "You're gonna come with us and you're gonna like it!" With that finalized, she dragged Roy by his arm from the clearing and back into Castle Town. 

Roy didn't mind. He truly was happy for all of them. All in all, it was a very exciting and pleasant night.

All except for the fact that Sheik couldn't join them.

Wherever he was, he hoped Sheik was okay.

************

It was the wee hours of the morning now in the Kingdom of Hyrule. The night was still quite dark, and most of the Kingdom was finally in a deep slumber.

For the first time in a long time, the princess Zelda slept a dreamless sleep. It was a fitful sleep for Zelda, her tear-streaked face trapped in an eternal grimace. She had fallen asleep hours before, at the time hoping it would be a sleep that would last forever. Her final thoughts before losing herself to the slumber were that of a crippling sadness. She prayed to the Goddesses that her sleep would be dreamless, because above all, she needed an escape from the disturbing events of the day.

Her prayer was answered, for the most part. Up until now, there was nothing in Zelda's mind as her body rested; there was no sound, no vision. Then there was a vision. A vision of red, a vision of flames.

The flames grew hotter and unbearable. She squirmed against the blistering heat and created the soothing cool feeling of blue crystal. The crystal warped and took the shape of a triangle shaped dagger. Gram.

Her eyes flew open, and brought up her arms instinctively. Gram came up and clanged against another blade, a blade of red and flame. 

It was wielded by a figure in shadow, thin and lithe-like, he struck again with his blazing sword.

Zelda didn't even think, she parried the blow with Gram, and rolled off of her bed in an attempt to escape from the assassin, but he was too fast. He caught her by the throat as she tried to cry out for help.

Before he could do any more, Moto jumped up to his face, and with a loud 'KU!!', he exploded.

There was a thunderous blast, and Moto dropped to the floor with swirly, dazed eyes. The assassin released his grip on Zelda in pain, and the princess took the chance. Gathering her Wisdom, she caught herself in an unnatural wind and flung herself towards the doorway…

…And bounced right off of it with a hard thud. Zelda shook off the pain and looked at the door in horror. The Imprisoning spell was still in effect! There was no way to escape.

But that didn't make any sense! How had the intruder gotten in if the spell was still there!?

She had no more time to think about it. She raised Gram up in a defensive position and trembled slightly as the assassin with the flaming sword advanced on her.

**Next time: His name is Rin.**

**Thanks for your patience. I hope this was enough action for you guys. :) Actually I really enjoyed writing these chapters. I believe this fic is starting to actually get into the real story behind it…so enjoy. Please review. Later!**


	8. Rin

The sword was wielded by a figure in shadow, thin and lithe-like, he struck again with his blazing sword.

Zelda didn't even think, she parried the blow with Gram, and rolled off of her bed in an attempt to escape from the assassin, but he was too fast. He caught her by the throat as she tried to cry out for help.

Before he could do any more, Moto jumped up to his face, and with a loud 'KU!!' he exploded.

There was a thunderous blast, and Moto dropped to the floor with swirly, dazed eyes. The assassin released his grip on Zelda in pain, and the princess took the chance. Gathering her Wisdom, she caught herself in an unnatural wind and flung herself towards the doorway…

…And bounced right off of it with a hard thud. Zelda shook off the pain and looked at the door in horror. The Imprisoning spell was still in effect! There was no way to escape.

But that didn't make any sense! How had the intruder gotten in if the spell was still there!?

She had no more time to think about it. She raised Gram up in a defensive position and trembled slightly as the assassin with the flaming sword advanced on her.

************

**The Legend of Zelda: Her Story**

**Chapter 7: Rin *Revised***

**By: The Kirby Kid**

**Disclaimer**:

            **The Legend of Zelda** is like…totally, like copyrighted. BY NINTENDO! …and stuff. Like I didn't make it and junk, so don't sue me.

**Authors Notes**:

            Yabba! Soon I will make an appeal to you good folks. Get ready for it. In the meantime, I'd like to thank you for your reviews. 'Specially **Snowsilver**, **idiotbox**, **Dark Dragon**, **Dinadain Feasin**, **nowhere **and **Winky**. W..wait a minute. That's everyone who reviewed. Uh…well, thank you very much anyway guys! You're called motivation! I'd like to ask for more of your reviews, and those of anyone who reads this fic. Thanks. 

Above all, enjoy. 

************

Zelda didn't get a chance to get a decent look at the assassin because of his speed. She only had a chance to bring Gram up to a horizontal position across her face and neck and to brace herself. The assassin's flaming blade smashed hard against Gram, and the Princess was slammed back towards the closed doorway by the blow. Dots floated in front of her eyes, but she shook them off quickly as the assassin made another run for her. This time Zelda ducked underneath the strike, rolled forward and bounded to her feet, behind her assaulter. She gathered her Wisdom.

Once again the attacker moved with an unearthly speed. She raised Gram, and it was slapped out of her hand with a vicious strike from the attacker that left her hand burnt and bleeding. Then his hand was at her throat, and as much as she struggled, she was not able to draw a single breath. As Wisdom slipped out of her mental grip, she panicked and slammed her fists against the attacker's rigid arm, but it didn't budge. Lights exploded in front of her eyes. Zelda tried to call for help, mentally and physically, but she couldn't get her voice out. Finally she had nothing left to fight with; her arms fell limply to her sides, and darkness began to overtake her.

 "_This…can't…be…" _she gasped faintly.

"_Not now…like this…_"

"_Please_… "

The vice-grip was released. Zelda coughed once, gasped and gulped greedily for air, and then glanced up warily before her. Rocco and the attacker had their weapons locked in a fierce struggle. Zelda didn't know how the Shadow Knight got in her room, or how long his ever-heated Halberd would last against the assassin's flaming blade, but she couldn't be happier to see him. Once again, Zelda gathered her Wisdom and prepared to strike.

The assassin suddenly broke the lock he had with Rocco, feinted and pulled him forward, twirled and crashed the handle of the blade into the back of Rocco's head, and then rushed out of the room. The entire move had only taken a second, and Zelda was left blinking with a falling Rocco in her darkened room. She rushed forward and caught the Knight in mid-plunge. Rocco regained his form and shook his head arduously.

"Rocco," Zelda gasped. "You're all right?"

Rocco growled and glanced out the door. "He won't get far, Princess," he said vehemently. "Invincible's outside." 

"_Uncle Link?_" Zelda nodded, moved to the edge of her bed and swept up her little Keaton/Bombchu friend Moto, and ran out the door. What she saw shocked her to the ends of her bones.

Invincible was indeed out in the hallway. However, there was no trace of the attacker anywhere. Invincible stood holding his head in his hand and shaking it slowly. His sword…

His sword was a few feet away from him. It was as if it had been knocked out of his hands.

The assassin had gotten past Invincible.

That was impossible.

Zelda was brought out of her shock when Invincible opened a brown eye and levelled it towards the Princess. She stared at him in disbelief; there was a bruise on his cheekbone. 

How could this be possible? Was this attacker stronger than Invincible? 

No…that wasn't even a possibility. Besides, if he were stronger than Hyrule's Hero of the Triforce, she would have been killed instantly.

Suddenly Zelda realized that everyone could see what she had done to herself earlier in the night…that she had sheared off her hair just above her neck. Finally able to summon her Wisdom, she weaved a Glamour that created the image of having the long lustrous hair that she had had only a few hours ago. As she did so, Invincible stormed towards her and grabbed her by the shoulders. 

"Zelly," he breathed, moving his hands up to cup her face. "Zelly. Damn it, you're hurt," he added as he saw her wounded hand.

Zelda didn't care about that. She cared more of what Invincible saw of her before she put the Glamour on. He had to have noticed. "I'm fine," she lied. "Uncle, please don't tell mother-"

"You really think I give a damn about this?" he hissed, brushing a hand by her fake hair. "All I care about is your safety. What the hell…" Invincible scanned the area while keeping a firm grip on Zelda's shoulder. She stared at him with deep worry. 

Moto peeked out from underneath her nightgown and sniffed fitfully. He seemed to be getting his blow up a few minutes ago. Zelda was glad, but she was more worried about Invincible. 

Usually, Invincible was a figure of content. He seemed to stroll around the Courtyard and Castle lazily, with a permanent look of ease on his face. This is the first time in years Zelda had seen him like this: Sharp-eyed, cautious, and angry.

Her eyes were drawn away from the Silver Knight when a small wind whirled beside her. Zelda could feel the Wisdom emanating from the wind, and she immediately knew it was her mother, before the Queen materialized from Farore's Wind. She glanced at Zelda, and then looked to Invincible, while Rocco exited from the Princess's room. 

"Is she all right?" she asked Invincible.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?"

Apparently, the Queen took that as a 'yes', and she went to the next matter of importance. "Where is he?" she asked, anger simmering in her eyes. Invincible and Rocco glanced at each other, and then they both looked at the Queen. Immediately she understood, but she was not pleased. "You're telling me you haven't got him?"

"We'll find him, your highness, " Rocco assured. "The Castle is swarming with Knights, and the First Rank are locking down the perimeter. No one will get out of here without us knowing."

Invincible said nothing, he just continued to look at the Queen, and then to Zelda and her wounded hand. "Zelda, I'm sorry," he said, before leaving them and moving down the hallway. Zelda didn't know whether or not he was speaking of her or her mother.

The Queen moved up to Zelda and took her wounded hand gently with her own. "A flaming dagger?" she mused quietly. Zelda was amazed that she could tell that just by looking at her wound. She supposed it wasn't so difficult to interpret a burned slash…she just didn't think her mother would know about something like that. Zelda's blue-green eyes met her mother's sapphire ones, and then glanced to the ground. 

"Can you take care of this?" her mother asked. Zelda nodded glumly, and the Queen started down the hallway after Invincible. After a few steps she froze, as if deciding whether or not to turn and say something more. She decided not to, and continued down the hall.

Frowning sadly, Zelda started using Nayru's Love on her wound; and as her injury began to heal, Rocco, who put a hand on her shoulder, greeted her.

"Princess…I'm so sorry you were injured."

Laughing, Zelda began to weave a complex spell to heal Rocco's head wound. "If it weren't for you, I would have been killed. I'd say you've done your job exceptionally." Zelda smiled at the relief in Rocco's face. He seemed to be cheering up a little.

"We have someone!"

Zelda and Rocco turned towards the sound. It was a Knight, calling from the Courtyard, and his voice carried through some of the opened rooms in the hallway. Zelda took Rocco by hand and whipped up the spell of Farore's Wind, transporting them immediately to the isolated far end of the Courtyard. From there they ran forward in the dead of night, towards a group of Knights that were congregating in one spot. Zelda spotted her mother and Invincible in the area, and moved towards them, and then she saw two Knights; Sir Rocky and the newly appointed Sir Donnelly. They were holding on to a young man, who had been forced to his stomach, and who was secured with two strong arms to the back of his neck and back.

"We found him lying in the bushes close to the Castle," Rocky explained. "We don't know how he got so close without anyone knowing, and he put up a bit of a struggle, but he was pretty easy to put down, sir." Zelda saw that he was directly addressing Invincible.

"Let me see him," the Princess ordered. Rocky and Donnelly glimpsed Zelda, and then looked to Invincible for confirmation. The silver Knight nodded, and the two Knights brought the prisoner to his feet.

He was a young man, brown-skinned, with white hair that was blackened about the tips. He wore a white sleeveless shirt and grey baggy pants. Rocco immediately recognized the boy, and Zelda slowly recalled her many chance meetings with him. She leaned forward, and he shrunk away with fear. He looked to be around her age, and he didn't appear to be dangerous at all.

Still, how did he get so close to the Castle without anyone noticing?

"Who are you?" Zelda asked gently.

His auburn brown eyes narrowed in fear and anger, and his mouth worked slowly.

"My name is Rin."

************

Link, the man known as the Invincible Silver Knight, looked hard into the brown eyes of his captive. The young man at the other side of the table didn't meet them. Instead he stared at the ground, his bushy white hair falling over his forehead and swaying slightly in the breeze.

They were one of the dungeons deep within the Castle, specifically the interrogation room. They weren't alone. Rocky, his son Rocco, Donnelly and Adrel stood watch at all four corners of the room, watching the interview intently. Link knew that they could be relied to dispense one of their daggers the moment the boy seemed to do anything suspicious. He also knew that they wouldn't jump the gun, that they'd keep their cool.

A very hard thing to do in this tense situation. See, Link wasn't convinced that this was the one that they were after. This might not be the assassin. With this in mind, he had the First Rank and the better part of the Knighthood continuing their sweeping search. The peaceful night had turned into a disturbing morning, and everyone was on edge.

The nervousness was amplified by the presence of the Royalty in the room. The Queen had insisted at being present for the interrogation. Princess Zelda was there too, fiddling with her 'long' hair at the nape of her neck. 

"So, where are you from?" Link asked.

"Where am I from?" the boy, Rin, muttered. "I - I'm from Vased. (_Va-zed)_ Look, I didn't do anything!"

Link ignored him and pondered his response. Vased was a small town by the edge of the Gerudo Valley. It made sense, seeing as to how the boy was clearly half-Gerudo. No half-Gerudo males would be permitted to live within the Valley. Many towns existed along the edge of the desert, Towns that were homes of many half-Gerudo children. But if he was from Vased…

"You're far from home, Rin," Link commented. The boy turned his gaze once again to the ground. "What are you doing here, in the Kingdom of Hyrule I mean?"

Rin hesitated for a moment before answering. "I…I needed to escape."

"Escape?" the Queen repeated. "Escape what?"

Rin was gritting his teeth, as if repressing some sort of awful memory. Link looked at him closely as he responded. "Vased…. Vased is becoming a Ghanim town."

Invincible noticed the princess's eyes widened at the word Ghanim. Seems the memory of her father's assassination by the cult was still in her mind. Link smiled grimly to himself. He had no love lost with the Ghanim either.

"Everyday, there were more and more people following what they called 'the call of the Red'. Everyone knew what that meant, it was the call of the Evil one." Rin squeezed his eyes shut and grimaced again. "It was such a small town, more like a village. They had no chance against the punks that began to overrun it. People were recruited, brainwashed, convinced, whatever you want to call it. Those who didn't join escaped the village. Those who couldn't escape…" When Rin opened his eyes again, they were fixed to the air beside Link. It seemed this kid couldn't look anyone in the eye. 

"They wanted me because I was an orphan, and that I was skilled with a sword. They thought I'd be easy prey…but I fought my way out. I…I came to Hyrule, because I heard of its famous hospitality. The rumours were true." A sad smile crept onto his face and he continued. "People are nice here. They don't force help on you, but they're always offering it. I spent my days in Castle Town, and I slept wherever it was quiet." Then he surprised everyone by glancing over to the Princess.

"I think I bumped into you once, my Lady," he said quietly. "I didn't know you because I've never seen any pictures of you or her majesty before, but I recognize your perfume now." Once again, his gaze wandered to the floor. "I'm sorry I was so rude to you and your friends."

"Hey, shut-up!" bellowed Sir Rocky. "Who gave you permission to address our Princess as if you know her!!" Link sighed inwardly. Rocky was a strong Knight, but he was known equally for his brashness.

However, Zelly simply waved him quiet and looked straight at the boy. "Don't worry about it," she murmured.

"Rin…look at me," Link ordered. He turned slightly towards him, but wouldn't meet his eyes. "Hey, I said look at me." Finally the boy accommodated him, and looked straight into his eyes. The eye contact was maintained for a few seconds, before Link sighed.

"I think you're telling the truth…" Link began, " however, I can't be sure. I'd like to believe you, especially if you have some information about Vased Ghanims…"

"Wait…I mean…" Rin once again turned to Zelda, ignoring Rocky's previous verbal assault. "You can tell whether I'm telling the truth or not, can't you? I mean, with your magic? Go ahead and read my mind. You'll see that I'm telling the truth."

"Oh that's just going too far!" Rocky bellowed. "We can't allow this punk to talk to our Princess like that!!"

"Dad…" Rocco muttered, with a tinge of embarrassment.

"It's quite all right, Sir Rocky." Zelda turned to her mother, who just looked back silently for a moment, before nodding her approval. Then she turned to the young man, and forced her will onto his.

Link couldn't see anything physically, but he knew that Zelda was entering the boys' mind. She placed her fingers behind her ears and pushed them forward a bit, focusing on the inner whispers in Rin's psyche. Link was glad, if there were anything the kid was hiding, Zelda would reveal it. 

At least, he hoped she would. Still, there was something strange about this kid.

There wasn't a threat of danger coming from Rin, nor was Link getting a feeling of dread from him. But there was something…a kind of _absence _that made Link uneasy.

When Zelda seemed to sway a little, Link knew she was finished probing his mind. "Well?"

Zelda shrugged nervously. "I don't think he's lying. I couldn't find any deception in him…"

Again, Link smiled to himself. She couldn't find any deception in him. She didn't think he was lying. He happened to agree.

But was he telling the truth?

Link leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands behind his head. "Well…I don't think there's anything more we can do here," he drawled.

Rocco stepped forward from his post near the wall. "B-but Sir! How does he explain getting so close to the Castle without anyone spotting him!?"

Rin was silent, and Link leaned farther back in his chair and gave the young Knight a wink. "Ah? Well that may be more about you Knights not doing your job very well, now could it?"

With his back stiffening, Rocco stepped back and squeezed his lips shut. Link brought his hands up in a pacifying gesture. "Hey, relax. I was mostly kidding. Besides Rocco, you did save Zelda after all." Then he got up to his feet and motioned to the other Knights. "All right, you're dismissed. Go get some rest."

The Knights looked to each other hesitantly, and then Sir. Adrel stepped forward. "Are you sure, Invincible?"

"Hmm…well if you don't think I can handle myself with this kid…then…" Adrel and the other Knights got the message and proceeded out of the chamber. "Hold, Rocco," Link ordered. Rocco halted immediately and waited. "Come with us." Link turned to Rin and beckoned him forward, and the boy rose from his seat and followed him, the Princess and the Queen, and Rocco out of the room and down the hallway.

***

Halfway down the corridor, the small party stopped and looked at each other. Queen Zelda glanced at Rin, and then at Invincible. "Well, what are we going to do with him?" she asked.

Invincible shrugged. "I dunno."

The Queen was aghast. "What do you mean 'I dunno'?" she said, imitating Invincible's deeper voice. "You're supposed to be head of the Knights aren't you?"

"Well you keep telling everyone you're the Queen. Why don't you decide what to do with him?" Invincible said lazily. Zelda giggled at the exchange, and it caused her mother to glare at her angrily.

"It's not that funny, Zelly," she said in a soft tone, before turning away.

"_Ah, so now it's 'Zelly' again, is it?_" Zelda thought to herself. Was this her way of apologizing for keeping that stupid Imprisoning Spell up? Of course, her mother couldn't possibly had known that she'd be trapped in her room with a murderer, but it was still quite annoying.

"So then," Invincible began, turning his focus to the boy. "What should we do with you?" He glanced over at the young Knight standing a few feet away. "Rocco, your suggestions?"

Rocco shook his head and glared at Rin. "I say we lock him up until we're sure he's not the one."

"Why? There's no evidence he was the one. He's innocent until proven guilty," the Queen stated. "On the contrary, we've found evidence that he's innocent. I wouldn't be confident in imprisoning him, even if we can't find the real assassin."

Invincible nodded, and then turned to Zelda. "Zelly?"

"Um…" Zelda didn't like being put on the spotlight like this. Besides, she knew the only ones whose opinions really mattered would be Invincible and her mother. Still, she had to placate him. "I don't think he did anything wrong tonight." Zelda believed it too…but she couldn't help but think that there was something else about the boy.

Invincible nodded again, and then turned to Rin himself. "What do you think? Sorry, this might seem a bit cruel, but you were at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Rin agreed. "I understand how everyone might be out of sorts after tonight. I agree that you should keep an eye on me; to make sure I can be trusted. But…" Glancing to the floor, he chewed a bit on his lip. "But, I don't want to go to jail."

"I concur fully," Invincible said with a nod. "Then, I want to propose something. Follow me." He led the group into a large chamber in the basement of the Castle. The room was huge, round, and dark except for one light from a small lantern in the centre of the room.

"Link…what are you up to?"

"Step back, Zelda, Princess." Invincible suggested. He then drew his sword, and tossed it over to the unsuspecting Rin. Zelda's hands flew to her mouth in shock, but she was strangely relieved when Rin caught it with ease.

"Link?"

"Defend yourself kid. Rocco," he started, stepping back towards the wall, "Attack."

Zelda watched as Rocco levelled his halberd towards Rin and rushed at him with tremendous speed. Rin held the sword up to defend the attack. Zelda's eyes widened when he did, because she noticed that Rocco was no longer in front of him. Rocco was behind him, and the blade of his halberd was racing towards Rin's back.

There was no change in the expression in Rin's face. He bent forward, switched his hold on the sword to a backward grip, and drew the sword behind his back. It clanged loudly against Rocco's halberd and held it fast. 

"_He – he wasn't kidding when he said he was skilled,_" Zelda thought to herself, amazed by the display. Suddenly she began thinking about how even with the training she received as Sheik, she wasn't sure she could compare to these two. Maybe passing the First Rank's tests was just a pipe dream anyway.

She saw Rin's left foot slide laterally, and the boy lean further forward as he prepared to do something, before Invincible rose is hand and roared, "Enough!"

Rocco ended his attack and walked away while muttering something under his breath. The Queen was vexed. "What was the meaning of that?"

Invincible grinned. "That was the same test Rocco had to take, before he became Zelly's shadow?"

Rin blinked and offered the sword to Invincible, who accepted it. "Shadow?"

Nodding, Invincible glanced to all the participants in the room and spread out his hands. "Zelly's bodyguard. We called him a Shadow because he could blend into the background so easily. Anyway, this is what I propose. We want to keep an eye on the boy right? And he's obviously quite skilled…"

"Are-are you suggestion he become my Shadow?" Zelda exclaimed.

"Why not? I'll be keeping an eye on him, and Rocco will be too, as First Rank. Listen, Rin's got information about Ghanim activities not far from us, and he's competent enough to be your Shadow. We've got no proof that he was involved in what happened tonight. Why punish him, and lose someone valuable just because we're nervous?"

Rocco grunted, and the Queen didn't seem too convinced. "What I'm nervous about is the prospect of Mr. Rin being innocent. If he is, then the person who tried to murder my daughter is still out there."

"Not for long. I'm increasing security, and essentially Zelly will have two guards on her at times. I'm comfortable that she'll be safe." Invincible sighed and his shoulders slumped slightly. "I'm tired," he whispered. "It's up to you, Zelly."

Zelda looked to her mother, who looked as if she wanted to say something, but didn't. Zelda then turned her gaze towards Rin.

Rin… he looked so slight and helpless, but as he had just demonstrated a few moments ago, he most certainly was not. She didn't think he was lying about not being involved in her attack. But there was something she felt she was missing: something important.

Until she could pinpoint that something, she had to give him the benefit of doubt.

She nodded and told them she was okay with it.

"Good! Great. Then I believe we're done here." With that, Invincible held the door open for the Queen to go through, and then exited it himself. It was then just Rocco, Zelda and Rin alone in the large chamber.

"I can't believe this…" Rocco muttered.

"It sure is sudden…I'm not sure what to do now," Rin gulped before grinning slightly. "I suppose I just got drafted."

Zelda smiled warmly towards him. He wasn't such a rude guy after all. "I'm sure Invincible knows what he's doing. Hey, don't worry; it's not such a bad job. A little hazardous though, right Rocco."

Rocco said nothing. He obviously was not happy with the new arraignments. 

Zelda shrugged and motioned to the two men. "Come on. Let's get out of here. I think I need a nap."

************

To most people it seemed like the Princes took nearly being killed with stride. They couldn't be more wrong. She was good at hiding things, and the truth was that she had been shaking the entire time, and she had gotten very little sleep that night. The next day she had lunch with her best friend Talon, something that always seemed to calm her down. She told her about what had happened between her and her mother, and about nearly being assassinated and her assaulter being on the run. Talon, being a true friend, listened intently and consoled the shaken Princess.

However, Talon wasn't in her usual cherry mood. She stared behind Zelda and at the silent Rin, who stood back a few feet from her. The other night, before she retired for the night, she told Rin the two basic rules of being her bodyguard: Stay out of her chambers, and try not to get in the way. Rin seemed to get the rules quickly, but because he didn't have Rocco's natural ability to blend into the background, he drew a lot of attention. 

"I don't like it," Talon eventually growled.

Zelda sighed. "I don't see what the problem is. So Rocco's not around during the day anymore. At least now he's on a steady schedule. You guys can make plans now without worrying if I'll ruin it by needing him for something. That and he's getting paid a lot more too. He can finally afford that wedding he's been planning," the Princess muttered underneath her breath.

Talon immediately became alert. "What was that!?" she said with a gasp.

Zelda raised her hands apologetically and grinned. "Just kidding, Talon. Sorry. Sorry."

The redhead's eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms in a huff. "That wasn't very funny, Zelly."

"I said I was sorry."

"You wouldn't have made such a stupid joke if you had a boyfriend."

Talon had a look of regret on her face as soon as she'd said it, but Zelda just shrugged. "Well, maybe you're right," she said with a smile.

"I'm sorry Zelly."

"Don't worry about it," Zelda said with a wave of her hand. "Anyway, I'd better get back to the castle. I'll see you later."

As Rin and Zelda started on their way back, the boy leaned a little closer to the Princess. "I hope I haven't caused any trouble between you two."

Again Zelda waved. "Oh it's nothing. We're best friends, so we fight all the time."

Rin laughed. "Strange… how that works."

************

An uneventful week passed, and one day Zelda got word that Invincible had summoned her. She hurried to the courtyard, where the Silver Knight was indeed waiting.

"You asked for me, Uncle Link?"

Invincible blinked, and rubbed the back of his head with a grin. "Uh…I think they misread my message. I was actually asking for Rin, the guy who hangs around you all the time?"

Zelda's shoulders slumped dejectedly, and Rin stepped forward. "Yes sir?"

Invincible leaned forward and placed his hands on his hips. "Rin, thanks to your information, we've come to the conclusion that the Ghanims were the ones that attempted to take Zelly's life last week, and they were using some sort of magic to do it."

Zelda growled. "_Ghanims again. First my father and now me. Who else is next?_" 

Invincible's smile never left his face. He wagged a finger in front of her and said, "I know what you're thinking, Zel-lee…but I don't want you to worry about it. Thanks to Rin's info, and some reconnaissance on our part, we've located where several Ghanim villages and bases are."

Rin seemed a bit confused. "So…so what are you going to do?"

"What do you think we're going to do?" Invincible said with a grin. When he finally opened his eyes, they were sharp with deadly intent.

"We're going to strike."

**Next Chapter:**

_I…I don't understand how this all could have happened_

_Why?_

_Invincible. Invincible! _

_Why!?_

**Fallen Hero?**

_Thanks for reading!  ^_^  See you in a week._


	9. Fallen Hero

Invincible leaned forward and placed his hands on his hips. "Rin, thanks to your information, we've come to the conclusion that the Ghanims were the ones that attempted to take Zelly's life last week, and they were using some sort of magic to do it."

Zelda growled. "_Ghanims again. First my father and now me. Who else is next?_" 

Invincible's smile never left his face. He wagged a finger in front of her face and said, "I know what you're thinking, Zelly…but I don't want you to worry about it. Thanks to Rin's info, and some reconnaissance on our part, we've located where several Ghanim villages and bases are."

Rin seemed a bit confused. "So…so what are you going to do?"

"What do you think we're going to do?" Invincible said with a grin. When he finally opened his eyes, they were sharp with deadly intent.

"We're going to strike."

************

**The Legend of Zelda: Her Story**

**Chapter 8: Fallen Hero?**

**By: The Kirby Kid**

**Disclaimer:**

            _The Legend of Zelda™ is a funny name…and it's all owned by **Nintendo**._

**Authors Notes:**

            Hey… thanks for your patience y'all. I've been…busy. Also I came back from a nice Easter break with the family. I'm applying for some summer courses, but I'll have more time for writing, and I'm full of ideas. :) 

Anyway, if you read this, do me a big favor and review will ya? And to all my loyal readers and reviewers, THANK YOU! And please keep reviewing :) 

If this chapter seems like filler, I'm sorry. It's really a lead in to something big. Enjoy!

************

"I have to say, Link, I'm very impressed with your progress," the queen said as she poured over the various documents and reports before her. She was sitting by the large round table that held the map of Hyrule, in the middle of the castle War Room. Invincible was standing over her shoulder, looking at the same maps carefully.

The queen nodded to herself and flipped over a page in a report. "In the last week you knights have taken care of four…no…five little Ghanim outlets that were being built right under our noses."

"Yeah. Rin's information was pretty solid," Invincible acknowledged.  "Makes me wonder where he got such accurate info."

Queen Zelda glanced at him and patted his hand gently. "I wouldn't worry. I've interviewed him many times, and his story never changes. He used to live in a town that was overrun by Ghanim…it's not a surprise that he passed through their illusions before he made his way to Hyrule." She tapped her quill on the edge of some papers and sighed. "Besides I was in his mind the whole time and I got no indication that he was lying."

Invincible placed his hands behind his head. "Eh…well…I never said I was worried about him lying."

"Hmm." The queen rose and faced him evenly. "So, where are they all? I can hardly believe they've gone on all these missions and they haven't located a single Ghanim for questioning."

"Uh…" Invincible muttered. "That's a problem."

"What?"

"It seems these guys are pretty good at hiding."

The queen reared on him. "What do you mean, 'good at hiding'?"

Invincible sighed tiredly. "I don't know what else to say, Zelda. Whenever we've neared any of their hideouts, they take off. We think they've got some kind of underground tunnel system. But they're without equipment, and I've got knights on their old grounds twenty-four hours a day. When they come up for air, we'll get 'em."

"That's…still very disturbing. I don't see how they could be so fast as to completely vanish before your knights came up on them." She paused and glanced back at the reports. "You're sure they were there in the first place?"

"We weren't seeing ghosts," Invincible said reassuringly.  "They were there." When he saw the worried look on her face, he tentatively reached up with a hand, and then drew it back and clenched it into a fist. "Don't worry Zelda, you won't lose any more family to those criminals; I promise."

The Queen looked up at him curiously. "You…_promise_?"

Taking a shocked step backwards, Invincible blinked at her and stammered, "W-what did I say?"

She smiled at him. "It just sounded a little goofy."

Slumping his shoulders, Invincible returned her smile. "Well…how long have you known me Zelda? Have I ever been anything more than a goof? In fact, I think that's the first thing you called me."

The queen shook her head; her long luxurious locks swinging appealingly and covered a wide grin with her hand. "No Link. The first thing I called you was '_moron'._ It was after you kept denying what the symbol of the Triforce on your hand was all about, remember?"

"Yeah. I can't believe you remember that?" 

"Of course I do," the queen murmured. She glanced away, shyly looking to the floor. " It was the first time we met…"

Invincible nodded slowly and stared at her for a long time. The longer he stared at her, the more he realized how dangerous it was being in the same room. He didn't want to make the same mistake twice.

"I'd…. better go home," he whispered, before firmly placing his hands on her small shoulders. "If you, Zelly or Tibby need me…" He tapped his temple knowingly and released her. "I'll come running."

"I know. Thank you." She beamed and waved as he left the room. When he was gone, she slumped into her plush chair and held her head in her hands. She didn't think anyone knew how lonely she really was. Her children helped fill the void it left in her, as did Impa and her dear friend Malon…but it was really Link who gave her the most comfort.

That is why she couldn't let him get too close. She sighed and sank her head into both of her hands. She couldn't let him get too close…she didn't want to make the same mistake twice.

************

Zelda took a long sip of the cool Koki-tea that she had ordered only a few minutes ago from the outside café. When she finished, she let out a long contented sigh and looked at her friend from across the table. "War," she said.

"War?" Talon repeated.

"Yeah. War. Ghanim: that's all they talk about back in the Castle. Blitzes that, hideouts this." She slumped across the table and sighed again, while poking a few crumbs of cupcake for Moto to pounce on. "And it's getting really boring…"

"You're getting bored? I haven't seen my boyfriend in two days, since your new bodyguard began spilling baddie secrets." Talon huffed.

Zelda's head shot up and she leered at her friend. "That's not very nice. Rin's a nice guy. He's doing us a favor." She turned and smiled over at the boy. "Right Rin? Are you gonna take that from her?"

Rin was sitting just across from them. He was nowhere as good as Rocco when it came to blending into the shadows. He looked back and forth between Talon and Zelda, and looked like he was going to panic. "Uh…well…it's…it's like you say…"

"Relax!" Talon exclaimed, patting the half-Gerudo on the arm. "I guess I should keep my jokes in check with you, you take things so seriously." She crossed her arms and tossed her ruby tresses to the side with a smile. "You're a lot like Rocco actually. You know, Zelly's ex-bodyguard. Hey!" She turned to Zelda with a leer of her own. "What are you doing to suck the humor out of all of your guards, Zelly? Are you hexing them?"

Rolling her eyes, the princess jabbed absently at her Glamoured hair and looked away. "Yeah, that's right. It's all my fault all of my shadow's are stick-in-the-muds." She laughed and looked at Rin, who wasn't laughing. Suddenly the smile fell off of her face. "It's not me is it? Rin, you can tell me if I'm doing something! Maybe I really do hex my guards."

Rin nearly fell off of his chair. "P-princess…there's…you're doing nothing of the sort!" Talon was laughing hysterically.

"Yep. Just like Rocco!"

Rin glared at her, and then at the princess, as her smile became wider and wider. Understanding dawned on him. "Ah, I get it. That was a joke. You two are pretty good…"

"Thank you," Zelda said with a grin. "And you're very gullible." With that, she scooped her little Keaton/Bombchu friend up, stood and waved quickly to Talon. "Well, I'd better get back. See you later Talon."

As Rin rose, he glanced to the princess seriously and asked. "Princess, do you mind if I buy a drink?"

Zelda shrugged. "Of course. I'll meet you back at the Castle, okay."

Rin looked stunned. "Uh… umm, are you sure?" As far as he knew, he was supposed to be at the princess's side at all times from sunrise to sunset.

"You'll just be a moment, right? So I'll meet you at the Courtyard." Rin raised another nervous hand, but the princess had already turned and began her quick trip back to the Hyrule Castle grounds.

His hand hovered in the air for a concerned moment, and then lowered to his side. He turned and saw that Talon had also left. "_All right,_" he thought to himself. "_Just a minute…I have to make it look good for this to work._" He narrowed his eyes and stared at the princess as she left the vicinity of Castle Town.

************

When Zelda saw Invincible standing in the Courtyard, she saw it as a pleasant surprise. She hardly saw him around anymore since these strikes against the small band of Ghanims began.  She ran up to him anxiously and spread her arms. "Uncle Link!" she blurted.

Invincible looked surprise as the girl wrapped her arms around him. "W..huh? Zelly, hey hi." He smiled at her and then darted his eyes quickly about. "Where's Rin?"

Zelda's smile was genuine and happy. "He's getting something back in Castle Town-"

"What?" the tall knight said harshly.

"He…he'll be back in a few seconds."

Invincible shook his head angrily and stepped off. "You told him he could go, didn't you?"

"What if I did?"

"Zelly," he whispered. There were many people still working and milling about and he didn't want to make a scene. Still, Invincible often found that just being around caused a scene. He was a celebrity in Hyrule, and he was understandably tired of the whole thing. He shook his head and concentrated on the young lady in front of him. "Zelly…this is their job, to be at your side and to protect you! You can't order them not to do their job!"

Zelda wasn't convinced. She crossed her arms defiantly and glared back at him. "It's only for a minute, maybe two max. What's going to happen?"

"How can you say that!?" Invincible said, completely flabbergasted. "We're this close to entering a state of war? Have you forgotten what happened to your-" He bit the thought off quickly and turned away. "_Her …father… Of course she hadn't. You idiot, how can you even ask that?_" he thought.

He could see that Zelda was frowning, and he rubbed the back of his head and laughed. "Well…I suppose there's no point worrying about it right now."

"That's right!" Zelda whooped. "Besides, you're here, right Uncle Link? What could possibly happen?"

The attack came right at that moment, with a sense of timing that witnesses to the event could only call fated. A flaming sword whipped through the air, and Zelda stood and watched as it cut straight through her beloved Uncle Link.

Invincible's eyes were frozen wide open, and he slumped to the ground in a heap. Zelda saw no blood, no gore, but she did see the trail of fire the sword left behind as it sliced cleanly through his body, and he saw the smoke waft from his still form. She didn't look up as the flaming sword twirled, turned in the air and passed by Zelda and to it's owner.

Stiffly, as if everything was moving in slow motion, Zelda turned and saw the assassin. Standing atop one of the inner walls, he was garbed in black from head to toe, but Zelda thought it looked exactly like her attacker and he held the same fiery blade. The man leaned forward, and then blasted towards her.

The other knights stepped forward to action, but they were moving as if stuck in a quagmire compared to this man. Zelda's hand twitched, and she tried to think about summoning Gram, to defend herself from this killer, but she was frozen with shock and awe. 

"_Oh Goddess_," she cried. He was so close now that she could feel the heat from his blade. Zelda could hear no other sound other than the rushing of blood between her ears.

"_Oh Goddess,_" she prayed again. He raised his sword slightly to the side. He was milliseconds away. She could hear and feel each muscle beat from her heart. It rang between her ears and pulsed behind her eyes. Then she heard the strangest thing. Running water…as if from a serene and crystalline brook.

"_Goddess..._"

Then Rin was in front of her, sword raised and at the ready. How had he gotten there so quickly? She didn't even see…. Zelda saw him spread his right leg slightly and raise his sword again as the assassin reached them.

There was the horrendous sound of bone hitting bone, and then Zelda saw the assassin's blade fly by her head and clang into the ground. But…that wasn't possible. 

"Zelda?"

She focused in front of her. Invincible stood tall, with an arm extended out and a palm up. The assassin's head was flattened against his palm, and his legs hung horizontally in the air. He had been stopped straight in his tracks. Invincible had a red slash across the front of his silver tunic, but otherwise showed no sign of being hurt. In fact, he showed no sign of even having moved. But there he was…

"Are you all right? I'm sorry if I frightened you."

Zelda shook her head and tried to concentrate, but her mind was a mess, her thoughts scattered in every direction. If the Glamour she wore to extend her cut hair wasn't self-sustaining, she it would have definitely unravelled at that moment. She was alive! She wasn't going to die. Invincible wasn't dead! Rin…Rin was here. He was alive. How…how'd he get there so fast? Why couldn't she do anything? Didn't she train with them; didn't she learn the same things they learned? Why couldn't she help herself…she didn't even use any magic? How was Invincible still alive?

She began to shake like a leaf, and then she noticed that Rin was shaking too. His eyes were wide and filled with terror. Why? He seemed to brave before. What was he afraid of? Certainly not Invincible…

"Ya!" she gasped as Invincible put his hands on her shoulders. Ashamed, she tried hard to stop shaking, but couldn't seem to get it done. Invincible just stroked her hair and patted her face gently.

"It's okay. I'm sorry; I let it stretch out too long. It's my fault Zelly, not yours."

"Ho-how…. how, how…. how are you-"

Invincible pulled her close and brushed her hair again. "It didn't hit me. Well…not really. It came close. The rest I faked. I…I was waiting for _him_," he explained with a nod towards the trembling Rin. "I'm sorry…"

"SIR!" a knight called from nearby. Invincible leaned away from Zelda and noticed the assassin. His body began to swell and before anyone could even blink, it exploded into a cloud of purple smoke.

The knights looked at their captain confusedly. "What the hell was that? Sir?" Invincible didn't look at them; his gaze was solely on the spot where the assassin had just vanished.

"Shit…" he breathed angrily. All that effort into incapacitating the enemy just to have him vanish on him didn't sit well with the silver knight. However, like most things, he didn't let it bother him for too long. He turned to Rin, who still hadn't turned since Invincible stopped the Ghanim, and called out to him. "Hey! Rin!"

Rin straightened suddenly and turned to him. "S…sir. I'm sorry…I was away…" Invincible arched an eyebrow. The boy seemed distracted and genuinely afraid of something.

"Sorry? For what? You were there when Zelda needed you. I just wanted to tell you that you did a good job."

Rin gaped at him, gulped and nodded in acquiescence. Invincible turned back to Zelda and held her shoulders again. "Zelly…I don't think you're safe here."

She blinked nervously. "W-what?"

"I'm not going to let anything like this happen again…but until we can get ready, you're not safe here." He then sighed and looked to the Castle. "We should talk with your mother." Then he smiled knowingly and asked, "When was the last time you and Talon had a slumber party?"

************

The queen had quickly agreed with Invincible, her daughter was not safe at the Castle. The last two attacks seemed to be concentrated solely on her, and even though Invincible was planning a huge action, she didn't want to take any chances. So while Tibalt would sleep with her, Zelda and her bodyguard Rin would be off to the Lon-Lon Ranch to stay with Invincible and his little family.

Zelda couldn't remember the last time she had stayed over for at the Ranch, she must have been just a kid, shortly after her return from the Dark World. She had totally forgotten the sights and smells of the 'milk factory' as Talon liked to call it. When they arrived, she was greeted warmly by Malon and little Romani, and nearly tackled by Talon.

"We are gonna have _so_ much fun, you and I!" she squealed.

Zelda couldn't help but smirk as she tried to push the girl off of her. "Are we gonna milk some cows?"

Talon stretched out an arm, and when Zelda accepted it, she pulled her off of the ground. "Is that what you think we do for fun around here, Zelly: milk cows?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Zelda could only speak while trying hard to suppress a laugh. "Brush cows then? Feed them…birth them? Something to do with cows? Come on, you can't tell me you don't have that little stuffed cow toy, can you Talon."

The redheaded girl stared hard at Zelda and then shuddered. "I can't begin to tell you what's wrong about that," she growled angrily. "First of all, we have horses and cucco's to you know. Second…." She turned away from her and pouted. "I gave that toy to Romani, thank you very much."

"It must have been a very traumatic experience for you."

"Bah. Baby gets what baby wants," Talon scoffed, glancing about to see if her little sister was in earshot. "Besides, I think you wrote the book on traumatic experiences. Are you sure you're okay?"

Zelda shrugged again. "I'm here aren't I?" She tried to appear calm, but Talon had been friends with the princess for years, and she could tell when she was being bothered.

"Well," Talon started happily. "This is your chance to relax. Don't worry about anything, no one's gonna know you're here, daddy's here and you've got your bodyguard staying too." She turned to the Gerudo and waved. "Hi Rin!"

"Uh…hi."

Talon shook her head and beamed at him again. "So much like Rocco. Hey! Speaking of him, he's coming to dinner tonight. Won't that be a riot? Talk about a full house. We're gonna have a huuuuuuuuuge meal, I bet you can't wait.

Zelda stepped forward, genuinely excited. "I'll help!"

"NO!" Talon covered her mouth and blood began to rush to her freckled face. "Uh…I mean… you're a guest here Zelly. Maybe one day…. some, far off day, we'll feel that we're on an equal enough level with you to let you cook for us. But now that's simply not acceptable; I mean, you being a princess and a-"

"Goddess you sure know how to lay it on thick," the princess said, repulsed by the excuses. She started towards the large house while Talon and Rin trailed behind her. "So, which bunk is mine?"

************

The dinner meal was an interesting experience for Zelda. The food was a lot…. heartier than what she was used to in the Castle, and she enjoyed it immensely. It was livelier at the Lon's dinner table too. Romani begged and begged for her father to tell the story about how he had stopped the assassin yesterday, and Uncle Link tried hard to create a 'G' rated story of what happened. The tale he wove brought a smile to Zelda's face, especially considering that he had embellished her part in defeating the criminal…even though in reality she had done nothing but blink.

The most interesting interaction during dinner was between Rin and Rocco, who happened to sit right across from one another. They both avoided looking at each other, silently deciding to concentrate on the foods on their plates. When Talon saw this, she used it as an ample opportunity to tease the heck out of her boyfriend, and she went to work. 

She insinuated that Rocco had been secretly relieved that Rin had taken his place as Zelda's bodyguard, and when she did, Rocco nearly choked on his food. When Rin asked if it were true, Rocco predictably reacted with a harsh "Of course it's not!" which prompted Talon to surmise that he missed being Zelda's bodyguard and imply that she was jealous. Rocco had gone two minutes into a speech about how his heart belonged only to her, when he realized that he was being made fun of. Everyone at the table laughed at that, and Rocco had to go ahead and join them in the silliness.

The dinner had done a good job of alleviating everyone's stress, but it didn't stop Zelda from staying up that night. With Malon and Romani sleeping silently on the top bunk of the wide bunk bed, Zelda twirled her short dirty-blonde hair, glamour completely removed, and thought about the previous afternoon in the Courtyard.

She froze, and it disturbed her. She might not have taken the final exam, but she was there for the training. Not just any training, First Rank training. She should have been able to react, to at least attempt to defend herself. Zelda couldn't imagine Busy or Don or Prince Roy freezing like that, and they didn't even have her considerable magical abilities to defend themselves with.

But she did freeze, and it filled her with shame. If Rin or Invincible were not there, she would be dead… It seemed that all of her hard work would have gone to waste. Gram seemed to have gone to waste.

She curled up into a fetal position and looked out a simple plain window. A half moon loomed in the night sky. She stared hard into it to attempt to shake the feelings of dread that was filling her heart. It didn't work.

Zelda couldn't say why, but she felt as if events were coming to a head. Invincible's word to her, that they would make one final strike at a large Ghanim hideout soon, made her sweat in worry.

She would be going along, along with Impa and her mother to lend their magical talents to the assault. After all, she wouldn't be in any danger. It wouldn't be fighting, it would be using magic…something that she could do easier than anyone else in Hyrule.

…Right?

The Knights of Hyrule and Ganon's Ghanims were going to collide in combat, and she knew nothing good would come of it.

But what could she possibly do? Could she act?

The slight sound of running water rushed between he ears.

************

In the small, unlit room, Rin sat silently, bent over a bowl of water. The water was speaking to him. 

"_What do you want?_" the voice said from the tiny pool. "_I told you not to call me until the job was done._"

Rin gulped and talked quietly. "I…I can't do it."

There was a rage-filled pause of silence, and then the voice responded. "_You…won't do it?_"

"No!" Rin hissed. "Not that I won't. I meant…. I can't do it. It's not possible."

"_What are you talking about?_"

"He's too powerful," he breathed nervously. "He's…he's way too strong. Yesterday, he-he moved so fast. You should have seen his eyes… There's no way I can…"

"_Falarin,_" the voice said falsely soothing tone. "_Do you think I spent all that time on you so that you could become so cowardly?_"

Rin shook his head violently and glared into the bowl. "You don't understand!  I'm telling you it's not possible! I'll be killed, and all of your planning would have gone to waste. Try to listen!"

"_Falarin, I think you've forgotten what's at stake here._" Rin could hear fingers snap, and the sounds of a door opening, and something dragging.

"What…what are you-"

Then he heard it, a high-pitched wail of pain that pierced him through his heart and threatened to destroy him right then and there. He held the bowl so hard as it emitted that scream, that his arms shook and water spilled all around him. 

"NO! STOP IT!" wailed Rin, before checking himself. "Please! I'm begging you, stop hurting her," he whipered.

"_Hmph,_" the voice said. "_Somehow I think you've gotten your spine back. Am I right?_"

Rin hung his head and bit hard on his lip. With his eyes squeezed shut, a tear dropped down and splashed into the bowl, distorting the image it held. "…Yes…"

"_Don't fail, my boy,_" the voice said, before growing silent.

Rin laid the bowl quietly unto to floor and sat on the bed through most of the night with his head in his hands.

He was thinking ahead to the final raid on the Ghanim, and desperately trying to think of how he would survive a fight to the death with the Silver Knight.

But all he could see as he though ahead, was his own end.

************

The battle is joined, but it doesn't go quite as expected.

There is nothing the Queen, Zelda or Impa can do. All watch as Invincible and Rin fight in a desperate bid for survival.

The outcome will pave the road for the fate of the princess, and of the fractured Triforce, which still plagues the land.

Next Chapter, **The Legend of Zelda: Her Story**.

**End of an Era**.

Thanks for reading!


	10. End of an Era

Rin gulped and talked quietly. "I…I can't do it."

There was a rage-filled pause of silence, and then the voice from inside the waters responded. "_You…won't do it?_"

"No!" Rin hissed. "Not that I won't. I meant…. I can't do it. It's not possible."

"_What are you talking about?_"

"He's too powerful," he breathed nervously. "He's…he's way too strong. Yesterday, he-he moved so fast. You should have seen his eyes… There's no way I can…"

"_Falarin,_" the voice said falsely soothing tone. "_Do you think I spent all that time on you so that you could become so cowardly?_"

Rin shook his head violently and glared into the bowl. "You don't understand!  I'm telling you it's not possible! I'll be killed, and all of your planning would have gone to waste. Try to listen!"

"_Falarin, I think you've forgotten what's at stake here._" Rin could hear fingers snap, and the sounds of a door opening, and something dragging.

"What…what are you-"

Then he heard it, a high-pitched wail of pain that pierced him through his heart and threatened to destroy him right then and there. He held the bowl so hard as it emitted that scream, that his arms shook and water spilled all around him. 

"NO! STOP IT!" wailed Rin, before checking himself. "Please! I'm begging you, stop hurting her," he whispered.

"_Hmph,_" the voice said. "_Somehow I think you've gotten your spine back. Am I right?_"

Rin hung his head and bit hard on his lip. With his eyes squeezed shut, a tear dropped down and splashed into the bowl, distorting the image it held. "…Yes…you are…"

************

**The Legend of Zelda: Her Story**

**Chapter 9: End of an Era**

**By: The Kirby Kid**

**Disclaimer:**

The Legend of Zelda™ is good tasting AND good for you. It's also property of **Nintendo**.

**Long Authors Notes:**

Hey how is everyone? First I'd like to thank you for your feedback. I'm really glad and happy you guys are interested in my characters. First, **Dinadan**, thanks for pointing out my errors. It's the only way I'll learn. :). And **Snowsilver**, thanks for your interest and don't worry, I have a lot of plans for those other Knights. (Bixenta, Don and Rocco). Thanks to everyone who reviewed so far, including **idiotbx **and **DarkDragon :)**. 

Now enough with this disgusting display of appreciation. Now I've got to warn you loyal readers, that this chapter is about **twice **as long as my normal chapters. I actually considered cutting it in two…and if you think I should I will…but I decided that the impact of the chapter is better as a whole. Whoo boy it's kinda long though.

Oh and this chapter fills out my 'action quota' for about 3 chapters worth. Don't expect to see a lot of action for a few chapters after this one. It was fun writing though. I hope it's fun readin'. Oh and I'm sorry I kept switching perspectives during the Big Fight.

Now! On with the story!

************

Destiny. That was what he called it.

Zelda sat holding him, cradling his head in her hands, and tears streaked uncontrollably down her face. A bitter wind blew across the bare plain, wafting her short hair across her eyes, sending droplets of sorrow across the air.

Invincible, the Hero of the Triforce, Hero of Hyrule and of the Gerudo Keepsake, her own personal hero and more, lay still in her arms. Blood continued to seep from his horrendous wounds and into her leather riding clothes, soaking even further into the dirty ground. Despite this, a look of utter contentment graced his serene face. Zelda didn't get this. She couldn't get anything at that moment. 

His last words to her were fathomless. Could it be true?

None if it made any sense. Hurt and aching in her heart, she began to rock back and forth and she pulled him closer to her chest. The knights stood well behind her, watching her with shock and anguish. At their feet lay an unconscious and battered Rin, who was bound completely in iron chains.

"_Why did this happen?_"

The Queen was next to her, and she fell silently to her knees at Zelda's sides. With a shaking hand, she brushed graceful fingers across Invincible's…no…Link's brow. She too knew that there was nothing that could be done. 

Zelda looked into her mother's face, and saw a look beyond sorrow. Beyond regret.

"Mommy!" Zelda wailed, and she fell sobbing into her mother's arms. The Queen held her, and her eyes closed.

************

6 hours earlier:

"Don't you think it's weird?" Bixenta said in the Knight's Tavern, a popular hangout in Castle Town for Knights and guards. She sat on a stool at a bar near the end of the Tavern, a mug of mead resting untouched between her hands. Her friend and fellow Knight Donnelly sat next to her and shrugged.

"Don't I think _what's _weird?"

Busy sniffed at her ale and pushed it away. For some reason she had no appetite for it right then, mentally or physically. "Don't you think away that whenever we get near, they disappear so suddenly?"

Donnelly understood. She was talking about the Ghanim raids they've been executing. "Yeah, well…they've got quick-escape systems in play. Didn't you listen at the briefings?"

Busy sniffed again. "I couldn't smell them."

"Say again?"

"I said, 'I couldn't smell them'," Busy barked. "It was as if they weren't there in the first place."

Donnelly took a swig of ale, let out a breath and slammed it down hard on the bench. "I dunno Busy, those arrows they shot sure felt like they were real." He began to rub on his leg, where he sustained an earlier injury in a previous raid.

"Yeah. Still, wolf-girl has a point."

Busy turned, to her left then to her right. At her right was Rocco, who was leaning against the bar with his Halberd at hand. Busy growled and eyed him dangerously. She didn't like how this Shadow Knight could sneak up on her so easily. It made her angry…yet at the same time strangely aroused.

Rocco continued nonchalantly. "Don't you get the feeling that something strange is happening with those Ghanim? They just don't…_feel _right…like they're not really there. I doubt all those Ghanims have my abilities."

Donnelly shook his head again. "Yeah, but there could be reasons for that. Besides they fight back, and that's real enough."

"Something strange is going on," Busy said, blushing as she turned back to her untouched ale. The Shadow Knight turned her on; there was no doubt about that with his broody good looks, his tall frame and his sneaky abilities. But he was taken…and it was pretty serious by all accounts.

Looking back and forth at Busy and Rocco, Donnelly leaned forward and poked at both of them. "Hey…hey, you guys aren't doubting that guy's information, are you?"

Busy smiled and shook her head. Rocco also denied that allegation. They both trusted the boy's…Rin's…information. It was solid and completely trustworthy. Busy didn't even smell a hint of deception on him.

At that thought, her eyes widened and looked at Rocco. He was thinking the same thing; he might not have been able to sense it the same way as she could, but he could sense it.

Donnelly spoke their thoughts aloud. "Yeah…Rin's very trustworthy. Almost too trustworthy." 

But how could somebody be too trustworthy?

Sir Fastis and Sir Rocky walked into the tavern, which caused silence from all around. Busy, Don and Rocco stood at full attention. They were still pretty green, and even though they were First Rank, and by all accounts probably the strongest of the new First Rank in Hyrule, Adrel Fastis and Rocky still outranked them. The senior knights always laughed at how the three of them were so stiff and formal when it came to the routines of Knighthood. The other new First Rank, a young man named Paris, was less talented but much more unfettered around the Knights.

Looking around the room with his trademark look of disgust, the self-proclaimed hard-ass Sir Rocky said, "We'll be moving in six hours, so get your ass ready. If Invincible's not happy with your performance, I'll personally cut off your scrotums and feed them too you!" He then glanced around nervously. "And…for you ladies without the aforementioned body part…I'll…I'll…make you scrub the latrines of the training barracks!" 

That brought out a gasp of horror from even the men in the room.

"Bastard," Busy growled.

As the Knights and guards began to mill around, Sir Fastis walked up to the three by the bar. "You three."

Don, Busy and Rocco stood even straighter at attention, if that were even possible. "Sir! Yes Sir!?" they blasted in unison.

Adrel waved them off and gestured to them. "You're coming with me. You guys get a special assignment.

************

"So your idea is that they've not been hiding from our raids, but they've been actively on the move?" The Queen asked of Rin as he, Invincible, Impa and the Princess stood around her.

Rin nodded nervously. "Y-Y…Yes, your high-um…Royal Immanence, ma'am," he stammered.

"'Highness' will do just fine, Rin," the Queen said with a slight smile. "So then, according to this, they've all congregated here?" The spot on the map she pointed to was several miles away from Hyrule, between the Gerudo Desert and the Kingdom. It was a place where the green fields began to waste away into a dry ground filled with pebbles and other small rocks. It was a No Man's Land as the ground was so sterile and useless no one could make a home their. Even the desert was far more hospitable to life.

So hearing that Ghanims had gone there to create a base made the logical part of Queen Zelda say '_no…it makes no sense._' However, the information was coming from Rin, and the Queen trusted him implicitly. Everyone did.

This made her shudder for a moment. Everyone did trust the boy…and yet they hardly knew him. Something wasn't right. She reached out with her Wisdom, scanned the boy with every method she had available, and found nothing amiss. There was no reason _not _to trust him.

Turning to Invincible, who stood leaning against a wall with his arms crossed, she sought counsel. Invincible nodded.

"Sounds good. I've already organized an attack force. We'll be going in with ten knights and ten First Rank."

Impa blinked and turned on him. "_Ten_ First Rank? Isn't that a bit much?"

The Silver Knight shook his head and glanced at her. "I'm going to finish this, once and for all, and this time I'm not letting any run away." 

The Queen was almost stunned by his resolve. It was almost as if he took the Ghanim affront personally. She supposed he did. Link always felt responsible for the well being of his family, her own, and the Kingdom. He'd always felt as if it was his duty, his Destiny, as the Hero of the Triforce. 

"Zelda," he said all of a sudden. "We've got reason to believe that the Ghanim are using some form of magic to hide themselves. If we're going to get them, I'll need your help." He looked then at the princess and Impa. "I'll need all of your help."

Impa shook her head sternly. "Unacceptable. Link, you should know better than to put both Zelda's in danger like that!"

Invincible smiled. "Both _Zelda's_ are capable of taking care of themselves."

"But you never know what can happen! You saw what happened to Zelly only a few days ago, when that…thing tried to assassinate her."

The princess's face blushed angrily, but Invincible ignored it. "I'm not going to have them accompany us without suitable protection. Ah, here they come now."

As he said it, Sir Adrel entered the room, along with three of the First Rank. When Busy Rocco and Don saw the company in the War Room, they immediately stiffened. They seemed to be stuck between wanting to salute and wanting to kneel.

Inexplicably, Zelda started forward with a huge smile. "Hey you guys! How are y…" she trailed off when she saw their confused looks. The Queen didn't understand; Zelly only knew Rocco intimately enough to warrant such a greeting. What was that all about? Zelda just blushed and looked to the ground.

Invincible chuckled and he turned to the queen and gestured towards them. "These three will be guarding you."

"Bah," Impa huffed, causing Busy to bristle angrily. "They're rookies."

"Yes…" Invincible said with a slow nod, "but they're extremely talented. I'll assure you they'll do the job."

Don saluted and grinned happily. "We sure will, sir. Uh…" he saw the others staring at him and he shrugged. "Well we will, won't we?"

"Okay, then we'd better get ready." The Queen turned to Impa. "We'll need the horses outfitted. See to it, will you please?"

Nodding, Impa replied, "I'll send the word."

Invincible leaned off of the wall and took a hard look at everyone in the room. "Get ready. We leave in five hours." 

************

The trip to No Man's Land was quiet and uneventful. While Invincible lead the pack, with his First Rank flanking both sides of the line, Zelda, her mother, Impa, Rin and their three bodyguards were huddled in the center. Zelda knew they did it this way because it was the safest method, but it still unnerved her, being surrounded by all of those knights and their nervous eyes.

"Rocco," she began suddenly. "Did you get a chance to see to Talon before we went?"

He patted his steed on the neck and turned sideways to the princess. "Yeah, Invincible and I met with Mrs. Malon, Talon and Romani before we went. We ate, talked, it was nice."

"Uh huh," Zelda smirked. "You know, I'm talking about your private meeting with Talon. Give me all the salacious details."

Rocco gulped and looked away stiffly. "Why do you always do this to me?" he choked out inaudibly.

"What was that?"

Zelda's outburst caused him to sit upright in his saddle. "Sorry, princess…that's kinda private."

"I can order you too, you know."

"_Zelda,_" her mother called out telepathically, "_for Nayru's sake, leave the poor boy alone._"

Zelda frowned and glanced over to Rin, who rode at her other side. "Can you believe this injustice, Rin?" She got no response; he was too deep in thought. Though he was around her age, Rin often acted like someone much younger around them. He was shy, nervous and didn't seem to have confidence in himself, even though he had great ability. "Rin?" she called again.

He ignored her, staring ahead on the ever-darkening grass and fields. According to the change in the environment, they were nearing the No Man's Land. "RIN!" she shouted finally.

He finally turned to her and smiled a small smile. "Princess, I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"Rupee for your thoughts, Rin," Zelda offered, but Rin shook his head.

"They're not worth that much," he said, half-joking. "Don't worry about it."

"Princess," Bixenta called out. She walked with the others, and kept up with them effortlessly. For some reason she refused to take up on a horse and she preferred using her feet instead. "We're here."

The line had stopped, and Zelda craned her neck to see. Ahead was a strange valley; it was as if a giant had taken a shovel and scooped up a part of the earth. The valley was forty meters deep, and it sloped downward from the level ground. In this valley were a sparse number of houses and other buildings. Above the valley on either side were listening posts and other small towers. There was no sign of life anywhere.

Zelda glanced over at Rin, who shook his head slowly. "This…this isn't right. There _should_ be people here."

Bixenta went ahead of the line, and when she returned to report to the Queen, her look was grave. "Invincible says to proceed with caution. He and a third of our number will head into the valley. We and the rest will stay up on either side, where it's safer."

So they continued forward, Invincible and a few Knights headed into the valley and the rest flanked them on either risen side. Zelda watched as Busy looked around nervously, sniffing here and there. Don looked rather calm. She sighed inwardly as she regarded them. They didn't know her as the princess of Hyrule, but they knew her as Sheik. She wished she could talk to them like she did during that time in Training…but she couldn't drop that bombshell on her mother just yet. She almost blew it in the War Room.

Busy sniffed again, and then neared the princess. She looked at her quizzically, and then shook her head slightly. Was she catching on to her? Zelda perfected her Glamour back then so that even her natural aroma was erased. Having someone training with her with absolutely no smell must have been very disorienting for the half-Wolfos Bixenta.

Suddenly, Bixenta stiffened, and her eyes widened. "Get off the horse!" she yelled. It was just before the attack began. Ghanims, as many of them as there were Knights, appeared out of nowhere and began to strike with arrows and swords. They struck first at the Royal Family.

Busy lashed out with her arms and deflected an attack with arrows, and Don held up his shield and intercepted as many as possible. Rocco roared and leapt up at an attacking Ghanim, and he ripped his halberd through his body. Immediately, the Ghanim exploded into a cloud of smoke, and as it did another Ghanim materialized and attacked the shocked Knight. Rocco spun around, letting his attackers sword slam into the ground, and finished him off with a hard stab. Again, it exploded.

Zelda, the Queen and Impa threw their hands up and erected a shield of Wisdom, harmlessly deflecting away a hail of arrows. The queen looked around angrily. "What the hell is going on?" she growled. A drop of water dropped from the sky and hit her nose.

The Ghanims had stopped attacking with arrows and were now moving in for close combat, and even though all the Knights engaged as many as possible, there were still plenty enough to go around. The three sorceresses dropped their shields as the rain began to pour down. They got off of their horses and huddled close together, just as Busy, panting heavily, came up on them.

"Stay close and don't move!" she gasped. "We'll surround you. What the hell is going on…I can't smell any of them. It's like they're not here."

Zelda opened her mouth to respond, but Busy was already gone. She felt the weight of her hair increase as it soaked up the rain that was pouring down heavily now. Suddenly she realized one of them was missing. Where was Rin?

Turning to her mother, she wanted to ask if she could sense him, but instead saw the queen staring back at her in shock. Impa was staring hard at her too. "What?"

"Zelly," Impa said "…what did you do to your hair?"

Her eyes widened, and she raised a hand to her dirty blonde locks. They were short, cut just above the nape of the neck. Her Glamour was gone! But that wasn't possible; she tied it off so that it would sustain itself.

"Something's wrong," the Queen growled. "I'm going to contact Link." With that, she raised her hand to her temple. Zelda watched the mist of the rain rise up from the ground, and she ran a hand through her damp hair again.

"_The rain!_"

"Mother!" she shouted, but too late. As soon as the Queen gathered her Wisdom to contact Invincible, blue arcs of electricity ran up and down her body. Her body shook horribly, and her eyes became fixed and wide, before she finally slumped to the ground.

"Mother!" Zelda cried again. She ran to her, but Impa was already there, cradling the Queen in her arms. 

She touched her face, and then looked at the princess. "She's out. Zelly, don't use your magic." She looked around, her face blackened in rage. "This is a trap!"

One horrible thought came to Zelda's mind. "_Rin!_"

************

Invincible stood alone in the valley, and saw the fighting take place above him. The rain came down hard, seemingly out of nowhere, and raised a mist from the ground. When he thought about it, the rain came down so suddenly it couldn't have been real. There was no warning, no cloud build-up, no dampness in the air, nothing. Invincible realized it was an artificial rain, which meant this was a trap, and he was concerned for Zelda and the others.

"If you're worrying about the Queen and the others, don't." Invincible recognized the voice that was coming from behind him, and he turned around slowly.

"They'll be fine. This wasn't meant for them," Rin said. "It's meant for you."

"Me?" Invincible asked. "What are you playing at Rin?"

Slowly, Rin drew his blade, and he faced Invincible evenly. Invincible looked at him quizzically. "What do you think you're doing?"

"This," the young man repeated, "was meant for you."

Understanding dawned on Invincible's face. "You mean to kill me," he said silently. "Ah…you're with them…aren't you? The Ghanim. You planned this all along." He then grinned and began to chuckle. "I don't think I can believe that."

"Of course you can't," Rin gulped. "Her spell is still affecting you, but it won't be for long."

"Spell?"

Rin nodded. "The spell that she wrapped around me. It affected everyone around me. Think about it, you trusted me…so completely. You didn't even know me! But the spell wouldn't let you think about it."

Even as Rin spoke, Invincible began to understand more and more. A great weight was lifted from his mind as the downpour continued. It must have been the rain; it must have negated magic. As he looked at him, the veil of unconditional trust was lifted, and Invincible saw Rin for the first time.

Still, he smiled.

"Rin…" he begged. "Don't do this. Don't throw your life away." He spread his arms out to the boy. "Come on Rin, I let you eat at my table."

The boy was grinding his teeth and trembling, his hair mopped over his eyes, hiding them in a shadow. "I…I know…" he gasped. He then looked up and his eyes flashed open. "…And I'm sorry!!!" he blasted, before taking off towards him.

Invincible unsheathed his sword and easily parried Rin's first attack. The boy bounded away from him, placed his weapon in his scabbard, and flashed out his right hand.

"**_Halef_**!" he shouted, and when he did a fire burst from his hand. It spurted and whipped around, unaffected by the magic rain, before coalescing and forming a flaming blade.

Invincible saw the blade and was stunned. "It was you," he realized. "You're the one who attacked Zelly that night."

Again, Rin gritted his teeth and then burst forward towards Invincible. He struck out with a fast downward vertical strike. Invincible parried it with a stiff arm, and brought his flaming sword down with his own and pinned it to the ground, before nailing Rin with a quick punch to the face.

Rin stumbled back and spun around with a horizontal swing. Invincible parried it, and blocked another quick strike from the half-Gerudo. Rin struck again by bending at his knees and whirling his blade around, but Invincible wasn't in front of him anymore.

He ducked and spun around; dodging Invincible's choke hold, and stabbed at him. Invincible hit the stab at its side, pinned his sword down again, and hit him in the face with a flattened palm. As Rin stumbled back, Invincible rained down on him with several punches to his face and gut before nailing him with a devastating uppercut. 

Rin flew back several feet and hit the ground hard. Invincible straightened and looked down on him with a look of pity. 

"You should know that even though you fooled me with that spell, I look at you now, and I want to help you."

As he spoke, Rin trembled, placed his hands on the wet ground and got up to his knees, hacking out a glob of blood in the process.

"You remind me of me when I was younger, the way you wandered around like that, homeless, alone. When I found you that work with Zelly…the look I saw on your face…it reminded me of when I found Lon Lon Ranch…Malon…my _purpose_."

Rin struggled to his feet, but fell back to one knee.

"I like you, Rin. Despite all of this, I know you're a good person. That's why I'm telling you to stay down."

Rin rose, his shoulders slumped, his lungs heaving.

"Stay down," Invincible continued, "or I'll have to kill you."

***

Zelda looked down in the valley, as fighting continued around her, and her hand clasped at her mouth. What was Rin doing, attacking Invincible? What did he think he would accomplish?

A sudden horror came to her mind. Was Rin involved in this? But…but…why couldn't she see it before? All of the mind scans, all of the interrogations, and there was no hint of deceit from within Rin's mind.

Then Zelda understood. There was no hint of deceit. Not even the normal amount of deceit that people usually held. Someone must have cast a spell on him, and with this rain, she was only now seeing it.

Goddess! How far did go? How far back did the deceit reach?

A Ghanim warrior suddenly appeared in front of her, and this time Zelda reacted. Gram flashed to life in her right hand, and she swiped once, twice, and then stabbed the attacker in the chest. He exploded into a cloud of smoke. Another one appeared to her side, but Bixenta was on him quickly. She ducked an initial attack, struck him hard against the side of his face with a palm, and then finished him with a palm uppercut. He burst into smoke when he hit the ground.

"Nice work, Princess," she breathed, "Please keep paying attention."  She then moved off to attack another Ghanim.

Zelda glanced down again below the valley. As far as she was concerned, she was.

*************

What Rin wanted more than anything else at that point, was to be able to stay down. He almost did.

And why not? This was suicide!

He squeezed his eyes shut, and let the rain fall over him. There was nothing…it was suicide. Even with the power of Halef at his side, what could he do against the Invincible? 

The truth was, he didn't even want to do anything to the Knight. He was innocent; he didn't deserve it. All Invincible had ever done was encourage him, and help him with his confidence and abilities. He trusted him with the princess, and now, even knowing he was betrayed, he wanted to save him.

But there was no saving to be had for Rin. He'd die or he'd give up here, and the result would be the same.

That's right! The result would be the same!

"_Fala_!"

Her voice shot through his mind like fire through the air. Rin thought of her, in that place, with that person, and he gritted his teeth in pain.

"_Nubarin,_" he breathed.

 He couldn't let her down like this. He had to save her.

"_Nubarin. Nubarin._"

He said her name like a mantra, and it wouldn't let him give up. It wouldn't let him stay down.

"_Nubarin. Nubarin. Nubarin! Nubarin!"_

The fire sword Halef flared from his right hand, and his eyes flashed open with a new determination. Even if he had to die, even if he had to take the life of this innocent man, he'd save her.

"_Nubarin!!_"

With Halef burning at his hand, he burst forward with several quick steps, and then vanished, only to appear at Invincible's feet. He struck at the Silver Knight with three quick jabs. Invincible dodged them all and swung with a counterattack, but Rin was already gone. He ran around him, and jumped into the air towards a house wall. As he soared upwards, he turned back at Invincible and swung three times with Halef, flinging three arcs of fire at him.

Invincible cut each of the arcs apart with his sword, and as he did Rin ricocheted off the house wall and zoomed towards the Knight. Their swords clashed, and Rin flipped head over heels over him and landed a few feet away. As soon as he did, he ran again at Invincible. The Knight met his attack head on.

Rin swung, Invincible parried and countered with a horizontal swing, which Rin dodged. Rin swung again three times, Invincible parrying all of the strikes, and the boy struck again. Invincible moved his head to the side, taking a small slash at his cheek, and jabbed at him. Rin ducked and felt a sting near his temple and blood spurted furtively, but he countered with his own downward slash. Invincible sidestepped it but took a slash down the side of his silver tunic. Finally he leapt into the air and landed behind Rin, but as Rin turned, Invincible vanished from his sight. A small cloud of dust whirled where he once was.

"_What's going on here,_" Invincible huffed as he ran to the side. Not since with Knataghanim had he been in a battle this intense. He decided if he were going to end it quickly, he'd have to pull out all the stops.

With a burst of speed others might would inhuman; he circled Rin, over and over again. Rin looked back and forth, Halef burning brightly in his right hand, and then he saw Invincible right in front of him, with his own sword pulled to the side. 

But Invincible was also behind him to his left, and behind him to his right. Three of the Silver Knight's surrounded him, forming a perfect triangle.

"Hero's Blade!" the Invincible's shouted. "**Triforce Slash!**" With a mighty clash, all three of the Invincible's converged on Rin.

************

"Can you see the Queen?" Don shouted as he jabbed his sword into the head of a Ghanim. As it exploded, he heard an answer shout back from the chaos.

"No!"

Donnelly froze for a moment in terror. The Royal Family! They had to be protected, and they couldn't use magic in this rain. Ducking an attack from another Ghanim, he countered by thrusting the tip of his sword upwards into its chest. These guys were quite easy to defeat…but they were endless…and if they got lucky they could do some damage.

There was definitely magic at play…but how come the bad guys could use magic in this rain and the good guys couldn't?

As Don sidestepped a stab from another Ghanim, he realized the answer and wore a big grin on his face. It was because the good guys _were _the good guys.

He finished off his attacker with a backhanded slash to the face, and as he stepped back he bumped into something. He whirled on the person and found himself face to face with Bixenta. "How ya doing, Busy?" the black elf said with a smile.

"What are you doing, you idiot! Stay focused!" Busy turned and planted her back against Don's as she fended off Ghanims with hard kicks and slashing fists.

"You see any cuts on me?" Don spat between attacks.

Busy seized the head and neck of an attacker and wrenched it with a sickening snap. "Pure luck," she countered. "What's with these guys?"

"Baby Ghosts," Don laughed. "They're not quite real, but not quite ghosts yet. Sort of like when you do that trick and split into copies."

"I wish I could do that now," Busy growled.

"Have you tried?"

Busy turned towards him and quickly ducked a Ghanim arrow. She struck back with a roundhouse kick that sent it flying, and then turned back to Don. "I can't…not with this rain."

"I don't know if this rain affects _all_ magic, Busy. I mean these guys keep popping out of mid-air."

Busy considered it for a moment.

"Come on, come on," Don said charmingly. "It can really turn the tide. Besides, if you pass out, I'll protect you." He finished off with a suggestive wink.

"That sounds promising," Busy said under her breath. She did however think it was worth the risk. She clasped her hands together, and then brought her index fingers up touching each other to her face. "**Farore! Din!"**

Fire and wind converged in the air, and at Busy's command, became solid copies of her. No less than twenty of them were created, and all of her copies struck out at the Ghanims that attacked her fellow Knights, as well as the queen's party. 

Don winked and stuck out a congratulatory thumbs up. He then took on a serious look and clasped his own hands together. "Now let me try," he blasted.

Busy stared at him. "What the-"

"**Farore! Din**!" With that shout a wave of air burst from Don's feet, and copies of him started popping out of mid-air. First ten, then twenty, then thirty, and they were all attacking with fierceness worthy of a First Rank.

Bixenta was busy staring at the real Donnelly. "H-H-How did you do that? I worked on that Seal for a solid year before I got it right!"

Don shrugged. "I'm a quick learner." He then looked down to the valley below, as did Busy, and their eyes grew wide. 

"What the hell is going on there?"

************

With a mighty flare of fire and darkness, all three Invincibles were blasted off of Rin with a powerful swing from Halef. The three of them consolidating into one, hit the ground and rolled for a good few meters, before coming to a stop.

Rin lowered Halef to the ground, and glared hard at the Knight. Sweat was flowing freely from his forehead, and he was breathing heavily. There were small cuts and gashes all over his body.

Invincible wasn't much better off. Laboriously, he rose to his feet and glared back at the boy. "_He…really means it._" He thought between breaths. "_He really means to kill me._" 

Rage began to well up within him. After everything he'd done for this boy, spell or no spell, he wouldn't allow himself to be killed like this! Malon, Talon and Romani needed him alive. Zelda…

"Rin!" he shouted suddenly. "You need to kill me, because you're being told to…isn't that right?"

Rin turned away from him. He seemed to be whispering something under his breath, over and over again. Invincible's long ears caught the words easily: Nubarin. Nubarin.

"We can help you, kid." He said quietly. "It's not too late."

"You don't understand. They'll kill her…they'll know if I don't do it." Rin looked at him with panic and fear. "She's watching us, even now…with this rain. I can't even say anything or she'll kill her…unless…unless she knows that I really tried."

Invincible understood. Somebody had to die, or else Rin's special somebody would be the one to lose a life. Invincible sheathed his blade in his scabbard and faced forward. No matter how sorry he felt for the boy, he was not going let up. He wasn't going to be the one.

Then he felt a searing pain in his left hand.  He couldn't see it through his glove, but he knew the Triforce of Courage was burning. Suddenly he heard a voice, and he looked around to see where it's coming from.

Rin watched him look around frantically, and then stare him straight in the face. "You're telling me this is Destiny?" Invincible said suddenly.

"_What?_" Rin thought. 

Invincible shook his head. "I…I guess I understand. It doesn't sound very fair though."

"_What's he playing at?_" 

Invincible's right hand hovered over the handle of his blade; he bent at the knees and spread his legs slightly apart. "But I'm not going to make it easy. If it's going to be Destiny, let it be Destiny."

Rin's eyes widened. He didn't know what the Knight was babbling about, but he knew that stance. Any fighter worth his salt in Hyrule knew that stance. Invincible was about to use the Spin Slash…the most powerful technique in the land.

******

"_The Spin Slash,_" Zelda thought suddenly. "_He…He's going to kill Rin!_"

This was insanity. She had to stop it.

Ignoring Impa's cries, Zelda started down the embankment, slashing apart any Ghanim's that got in her way.

She skid down a small slope and ran forward with a dreadful feeling in her heart. She had to act somehow. Something was about to happen! 

Something horrendous!

***

For a moment, Rin froze, and he would have remained paralysed, if it weren't for the mantra that continued through his mind.

"_Nubarin. Nubarin._"

All the years of painful training, it all came down to this moment. He would withstand the Spin Slash, or he would die. It was that simple. 

And he couldn't die! Not yet!

As Invincible burst forward, Rin drew out his metal blade and dug his feet into the ground. When the Silver Knight was in front of him, he slammed his right foot into the ground and slashed out his blade.

"_Malon._"

Rin swung hard and met Invincible's first strike with the Spin Slash with a slash from his metal sword. As soon as the two swords met, Rin's blade shattered into thousands of tiny pieces. The boy felt the wave travel up his left arm, and he knew at that moment it was broken. The force of Invincible's swing caused Rin to twirl back in the opposite direction, but the boy managed to use the extra time to dodge the attack.

"_Talon, Romani_." 

Invincible swung 360 degrees.

When the Knight swung the second time, the tip of his blade clashed with the tip of Halef. The impact caused a shockwave to travel down the bodies of both fighters, and it caused Rin to spin around again, even faster this time. A small whirlwind of fire formed at his feet.

"_Zelda._"

Invincible swing 360 degrees.

Halef crashed hard against Invincible's blade and burned his hand. Rin whirled again and slashed hard into Invincible's arm. The whirlwind of flames grew larger and faster and Rin twirled around again and again, slashing hard into Invincible's chest over and over. Finally the plume of fire burned its way into the sky, and both Invincible and Rin were obscured in a wave of blood red flames.

When the fires dissipated, a large burn crater smouldered beneath Rin's feet. Invincible hung in midair for a moment, and then slammed hard into the ground on his back. He didn't move again.

***

Halef vanished from Rin's grip, and he fell to his knees, just as Princess Zelda rushed by him. The rain began to let up into a small drizzle, and the 'Baby Ghost' Ghanims began to disappear.

"Nubarin…" he whispered.

He saw the shouts coming from the Knights and First Rank, and he saw them start to stampede into the valley. He also saw Zelda cry out and hold Invincible's head in her arms.

As the Knights came at him, he surrendered his arms into the air and smiled sadly. "Did you let up…just at the last moment?" he asked the fallen Hero. "Did you understand my plight?"

A Knight stood in front of him, rage and hatred dark on his face. His weapon twitched, as if trying to decide whether he should go against his code and kill an unarmed man. He wouldn't though…these Hylians were too kind…to loyal to their leader. They'd act as Invincible would act.

"Sir Link…" Rin whispered. "Thank you."

Those were his last thoughts before losing consciousness.

***

"Zelda…"

She was kneeling with him, his head on his lap, and she was trying to be brave. She was trying to hold back the tears, trying not to cry out like she wanted to so badly. Bust she had to be strong. She had to be strong for him.

"I'm here," she sniffed. "Don't say anything."

"Don't cry, Zelda… This is Destiny."

"_What!?_" she thought angrily. How could this, this insanity be Destiny?

Link smiled. "You're…so beautiful." He whispered and he raised a hand slowly to he hair. Zelda caught it with her hand and tried to keep her eyes on his, and away from the many ghastly wounds that perforated his chest.

"Don't…don't hide it Zelda…"

Zelda sniffed again. "I won't. Please hang on, please!"

Link's smile weakened, and the light in his brown eyes began to dim. "I was…always so pr-proud…of you Zelda." He gasped as blood leaked down his lips. "My…my…"

With her heart quickening, she leaned forward to better here his words. She moved his hand up to her cheek and lay her head next to his.

"My…little girl…" he breathed, before his hand became limp in her hands. Zelda's eyes widened, and she looked down in horror as Link exhaled for the last time.

"_His…little…girl?_" Zelda trembled and stared blankly ahead. It could have meant anything, the way they had been so close. But Zelda knew in her heart of hearts exactly what he meant.

"No!" Zelda cried. "No you can't tell me something like that, not now!" She wailed and pulled him close. "Not….not….Not now…."

Destiny. That was what he called it.

Zelda sat holding him, cradling his head in her hands, and tears streaked uncontrollably down her face. A bitter wind blew across the bare plain, wafting her short hair across her eyes, sending droplets of sorrow across the air.

Invincible, the Hero of the Triforce, Hero of Hyrule and of the Gerudo Keepsake, her own personal hero and more, lay still in her arms. Blood continued to seep from his horrendous wounds and into her leather riding clothes, soaking even further into the dirty ground. Despite this, a look of utter contentment graced his serene face. Zelda didn't get this. She couldn't get anything at that moment. 

His last words to her were fathomless. Could it be true?

None if it made any sense. Hurt and aching in her heart, she began to rock back and forth and she pulled him closer to her chest. The Knights stood well behind her, watching her with shock and anguish. At their feet lay an unconscious and battered Rin, who was bound completely in iron chains.

"_Why did this happen?_"

Then the Queen was next to her, and she fell silently to her knees at Zelda's sides. With a shaking hand, she brushed graceful fingers across Invincible's…no…Link's brow. She too knew that there was nothing that could be done. 

Zelda looked into her mother's face, and saw a look beyond sorrow. Beyond regret.

"Mommy!" Zelda wailed, and she fell sobbing into her mother's arms. The Queen held her, and she her eyes closed.

************

The Hero of the Ghanim Revolt, the beloved Invincible Knight Link is dead.

Everyone has their own method of grieving. 

How will his immideate family deal with the death of their husband and father, and how will the Princess deal with both her grief and the shock of the deathbed revelation?

This was Destiny. The Trifroce is fractured, and it bids to be healed.

How will Zelda's answer to her grief put her on the road towards this Destiny?

Next Chapter

The Legend of Zelda: Her Story

Zelda's Answer 

Goodbye Link. He was the hero of my first story, and I liked him. When he grew older in my second (unfinished) story, he became sort of a guru, a pillar of justice and power. He's gone now and it's really weird. But there was another Link in my second story. Will he replace the first one in my writing heart? Never…but still…


	11. Zelda's Answer

**The Legend of Zelda: Her Story**

**Chapter 10: Zelda's Answer**

**By: The Kirby Kid**

**Disclaimer:**

**The Legend of Zelda**™ is brought to you by the letter '**N**' and by the letters '**intendo**'…and by the number **#1 **…that is: the #1 franchise in gaming history… aside from maybe that plumber guy.

**Authors Notes**:

How is everyone? I hope you enjoyed my last chapter. **Thanks to everyone who's reviewed**.

I know some of you weren't happy with Invincible having been killed, and neither was I. In fact that last chapter made me ill and angry. In any case, he's dead. 

For anyone who wants to read about the great Invincible's exploits before he was called Invincible, read my first fic ever: **The Gerudo Keepsake**. Also if there are any characters mentioned and you don't know who they are in relation to my stories, read the first chapter of this fic… _History and Biography_.

This fic is going to have a lot of action in it's future…in fact, it's going to basically revolve around the special abilities of Hyrule's youth. I might have to write up a new summary…but we'll see.

Well, that's it. Try to enjoy this chapter. And please…if you read it, please leave a review. Thank you.

************

"_I was always so proud of you, Zelda…_"

It was two days after the State funeral, and his final words still rang through her head, even now as she lay silently on her bed, looking up to its bright and silky canopy.

"_My little girl…_"

Zelda lay with one arm draped over her eyes and sobs escaped her chest while tears leaked from her eyes. 

"_My little girl…_"

Why didn't she even consider that possibility? After all that time he spent with her…even since her birth. Hindsight was perfectly clear, and now that she looked at herself, at him and his family…she began to see things. Her dirty blonde hair, her complexion…her freckles, they all came from him. 

"_My little girl…_"

Zelda opened her eyes when she felt a small weight on her cheek. Moto was on top of her and was licking her cheek. Slowly, she rose to a sitting position and held her little friend in her hands. A sudden memory came forth from the depths of her mind…

***

_The little princess hiccupped between breaths as she cradled the tiny creature in her hands. She hid between the Castle outer and inner walls, in its small and perfect garden, because she didn't want anyone to see how she failed so miserably. The little creature was going to die, and it was all her fault. How useless was she?_

_"Ho! Kiddo," a voice called from behind her. Zelda froze and turned around, staring back at the young man with her huge blue/green eyes. _

_"U…U…Uncle, " she choked, and she clutched the creature even closer to her chest. The young man, dressed in a green tunic and a long-tailed toque, knelt by her and patted the bonnet atop her head._

_He smiled that heart-warming smile of his, and for a moment she felt better…but only for a moment. "What's the matter, Zelda? You shouldn't be crying…it's unbecoming of a princess you know."_

_Zelda sniffed again, and then brought out the creature that lay still in her arms. "The pet you gave me for my fourth birthday…" she hiccupped. "It's gonna die. I can't take care of it."_

_Link hummed thoughtfully and nudged at it's tiny head. Link had found her a rarest of the rare type of animal…a Bombchu/Keaton hybrid. It was so cute…but it was born premature and it was very small. Why did he think she would be able to take care of it?_

_"What did you try?" Link suddenly asked. "Did you try to feed it?" Zelda nodded. "Did you give it water?" Again, she nodded. "Did you play with it? Hug it and all that? Tell it you love it?" Zelda nodded at all these, and Link simply smiled. "Zelda…that's all you can do. It's up to the little guy now. If it dies, it dies, and you'll have to go on, but…at least you'll have its memories won't you?"_

_Tears began to flow from her eyes again. "I just…I just don't want it to die…"_

_Link hummed again, then he snapped his fingers. "Did you give it a name yet?"_

_"Huh?"_

_"Give it a name…then call out to it."_

_"A…a name?" Zelda's eyes wondered left and right as she thought about it…and then they brightened. "I want to call him Miyamoto-san."_

_Link blinked. "M…Miyamoto-san?" he said, then he turned away and said under his breath, "Man what a strange name." He then cleared his throat and called out to the creature. "Miyamoto-san? Hey, Moto-san!"_

_The creature opened its eyes and rolled over from its prone position in Zelda's hands, and it slowly rose to its feet. "K…Ku?"_

_"Moto-san!" Zelda cried, and she hugged the animal to near death. Link laughed and patted her head again._

_"It'll be okay. Just keep doing what you're doing…and call it by his name. I trust you Zelda, you'll take care of it…of him…"_

_Zelda turned to Link with big bright eyes. "Uncle Link…don't tell my parents, but I love your present more than I did mother's or father's." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. _

_Link just sat back and looked at her as she played with Moto…_

***

The look he gave her at that time…it was the same look her father…the man she thought was her father, Prince Rile, gave her all the time. It was a look filled with parental love. She never even recognized it…but now…

Zelda wanted to scream.

Instead she turned to her darling Moto-san. "You saw it didn't you?" she sniffed. "You knew all along he was my real daddy?"

Moto twitched his huge ears and tilted his head to the side. "Ku?"

It was…utterly amazing. She had two fathers she didn't even know about. They both loved her as a daughter and they both cared for her. Now they were both gone. How could it have ended up like this?

Then another thought came to her…her father…Prince Rile? Did he ever know? Did he die thinking she was his biological daughter? 

And what about Auntie Malon! She…she couldn't have known. She always treated her so well. Talon and Romani…they were her half-sisters. She had sisters! Her hands flew to her hair and she started to pull at it painfully as her eyes squeezed shut. This was all…too…much…

"Zelly."

Zelda's head flew up and she turned to the doorway. Impa was standing there. She didn't even sense her come in.

"Zelly…are you all right?"

Zelda stared back at her and growled. "What are you doing here?"

Impa fully entered her room and closed the door behind her. "I'm checking up on everyone…Tibalt…your mother…"

Before she could continue, Zelda got a wild thought into her head, and she blurted out, "Impa…am I-"

As Impa stared back at her, Zelda found herself unable to go on. A sudden inexplicable sense of shame rushed through her body like a brushfire. She blushed and looked away, but she did continue. "Am…am…am I…am I Link's…"

Impa sighed heavily, and lithely moved her large frame over to Zelda's bed. She sat down, causing the bed to tilt to one side and Zelda to fall towards her. However, she regained her balance. Impa sighed again and pulled Zelda towards her.

"Zelda…you have to understand…Link and your mother…they always loved each other. They fell in love when they were fourteen. Their big mistake was that they decided that the needs of the Kingdom outweighed their own needs. Zelda was a princess, and her marriage had to be as much for the Kingdom as it was for herself. So they never did get together."

"You're saying even though he was a Hero…because he wasn't a prince or a king or a regent or something they couldn't get married?"

Impa shrugged. "Zelda was a stickler for tradition at the time. It was only during her time with Link that she began to take a softer line with life. In any case, a few years after the last Cataclysm's Eve, a year before Link married the one who'd become love of his life, Malon…and about a few months into Zelda's marriage…the two of them got together." She shook her head solemnly. "It was only once, but it was enough. After that, you were born…and they knew that they were finished."

Zelda stared ahead blankly. So…it was true. "Did…did mother even love him? Father I mean? I…I mean Rile."

"Of course she did," Impa said with an incredulous look on her face. "Don't ever doubt that. In this world, it is very possible for people to fall in love with more than one person. Link…he wasn't a lech. He just had a lot of good women in his life, and he grew to love them all. Hell, his first love was probably Nabooru…but she died." With that, she threw a large arm around Zelda and with a smile, pulled her even closer. "I wouldn't even call what he and your mother did a mistake, because you're here after all. I couldn't imagine life without you. I'm sure that's how he felt too."

"You think so?" Zelda murmured, before immediately regretting it. No, Link wasn't perfect. He wasn't invincible, but he did love her…she knew that much.

Impa saw the look on the girl's face and decided not to bother answering that question. "Zelly…I have to ask you a favor. I must plead with you not to mention any of this to either your mother, or to Malon and her family."

Zelda raised her head angrily. "Bu..but…"

"Malon's family is in terribly rough shape right now. I don't think they could handle this. Maybe sometime in the future…I'm sure Talon and Romani would welcome you as a sister...but not now. Do you understand?"

Zelda nodded and looked to the floor with Moto clutched to her breast. She didn't look up as Impa got off the bed and left the room. Before she was completely out, the Matron turned to her one more time.

"Zelly…I know it's a lot to think about. I wouldn't want to stay cooped up here…that's simply too dangerous. Maybe you should see how your friends are?"

As Impa left the room, Zelda glanced to the floor…and then to her left hand. The Triforce of Wisdom shone out from the other triangles that were tattooed to its surface. A thin fracture ran along all three of the symbols.

The fractured Triforce.

The magical blade Gram.

The death of Invincible, the Hero of the Triforce.

…Her father…

This all had to mean something!

Zelda rose to her feet and moved to her closet to dress and leave the Castle.

************

A group of Knights were returning to the Castle after two days of reconnaissance. After the incident at No Man's Land, the Knights regrouped to scan the land for any remaining Ghanims. All their searches turned up negative, and it seemed as if everything they had seen and observed before the incident was just the lead-in to a trap. It seemed there were no Ghanim's near Hyrule, that the only one was probably in their prison now, the one who killed Invincible: Rin.

The lines of Knights made their way back to Hyrule, and within their ranks were some First Rank, including Bixenta and Donnelly.

"Well…I suppose we have our answer as to why your nose wasn't picking up those guys we 'saw' earlier," Don said silently. Bixenta simply nodded. Don scratched his neck and shrugged. "I guess we were all taken for fools. Man that must have been some spell."

Busy was still silent, and the walked that way for a while, before Don started up again. "All that hassle…just to kill him. Man…I guess it wasn't just us who thought he was kinda important."

"Why won't you shut the hell up?" Busy hissed, suddenly enraged. 

Don didn't back down. "And what the hell should I be doing then? Stay quiet and broody like you? I don't think so. It's easier for me to say _something_." He turned and faced Busy directly. "What are you thinking right now, Busy?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Too bad, cause I'm making you!"

"Donnelly…" Busy growled.

Don ignored her and rushed on. "The only way you're gonna get me to shut up is by knocking me out. So we're not going anywhere until you tell me what's on your mind, or I'm flat on my back. Choose now!"

Busy squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. "Donnelly…"

"Bixenta!"

"He…he was supposed to make me stronger…"

"_Grow Bixenta. Become stronger. Feel the howl of the Wolfos in your blood. Control it; Master it. Then, and only then will I come to you. Then can you seek your reckoning._"

"Busy?" Don said confusedly.

Bixenta was biting her lip, and tears were flowing from her eyes. "I don't know if I can do it without him."

Don had no idea what she was talking about, but at least she _was_ talking…and that was enough for him. He patted her on the arm and stood silently in the fields. 

"All right, we'd better be going back."

Don whirled and became face to face with Rocco. How the guy always seemed to come out of nowhere unnerved the hell out of him. He sometimes wondered if the guy was even human.

He wasn't going to get on his back now, especially knowing how his girlfriend's family was suffering.

"Hey…hey…Rocco, shouldn't you be with…um…"

"With Talon?" Rocco finished.

Don and Busy glanced at each other and then turned back to him. Rocco just shook his head.

"A huge gap's been created now that Sir. Link is gone. We all have to do our part to fill in that gap." Rocco turned and headed back to the Castle with the other Knights.

As they walked, Don could tell that Rocco's mind wasn't with the Knights, it was back in Lon Lon Ranch. Don turned to glance at the ranch in the horizon and sighed.

"_Man,_" he thought gravely. "_I just hope things don't get worse…_" 

************

"It's a difficult situation. We clearly have the boy, who's admitted what he's done and there's no doubt to his guilt. So then, how should we proceed?"

The Queen sat with her hands clasped together at her chin, and she was staring ahead into nothing. The council began to talk around her.

"I don't believe we can do business as usual," a Councilwoman started. "Normally we'd send him to prison for life…but…"

"But that wouldn't satisfy the people of Hyrule, would it?" Another Councilwoman finished. 

"_Link…_"

"You're talking about…an execution?"

A council member nodded his agreement, but another placed his hands on the table in earnest. "There wasn't even an execution when the Prince, Goddesses keep him, was assassinated."

"That's because those responsible died when they attacked the Knights."

"But now…we're talking about killing an unarmed-"

"Unarmed but dangerous!" a member cut in. "And hated. The people need closure."

"_I wasn't able to protect you…like you've always protected me._" The Queen squeezed her eyes shut.

"I agree. This is a special case. Link was a hero of the highest order, and even those who don't know what he did during the last Cataclysm's Eve loved him. In order for the people of Hyrule to heal and go on with their lives…especially his family… his killer must die." 

"_I'm so sorry…_"

"So then. Execution. Is it agreed?"

All of the council members nodded their heads. Then one turned to the Queen. "Your majesty?"

"_I'm so sorry…_" she cried.

A councilwoman leaned towards her and reached for her gently. "Your highness."

"If it's what will heal my people, then I have to go along with it," the Queen gulped. 

"Rin…will be executed as soon as possible." 

************

"Wind circled around itself in a little cyclone and light began to coalesce within its centre. Finally it dispersed, and Zelda stepped out from it quietly. She was wearing a simple long black dress, and she wore a black collar around her neck. It's something both her and her mother wore outside the Castle, to represent the grieving they were doing. Zelda didn't glamour her hair or face though. She promised Link she wouldn't hide herself again, and she wouldn't.

She looked around the Ranch and commented to herself on how it was strangely quiet. When she focused her hearing, she could hear sounds coming from the barn.

Zelda made her way to the shed in peeked inside. There she saw Talon loading up bales of hay into feeding troughs for the cows. She didn't look good. Her long red locks of hair were dishevelled, her clothes and her face were covered with dirt and mud, and sweat was plastered all over her face.

"Talon?"

The girl turned to her as she bent to lift another bale of hay, and then she turned away. "I'm sorry I can't entertain you right now, Zelda."

Zelda stepped into the barn and lifted the hay with her Wisdom. "I'm not here to be entertained," she said as she poured the hay into a feeder. 

"I wish I could do that," Malon said with a weak smile. "Thanks. I love your new look by the way."

Smiling and lifting another bale into the air, Zelda looked up and down Talon's tired form. "Talon…why are…"

"Do you see anyone else here to help me?" Talon blurted as she lifted some hay off of the ground. "My mother won't even come out of her room. She won't do any work, she won't help cook she help won't clean, she hardly talks to us." Zelda could see that Talon was furious. "She just lies there in that room of hers."

"Talon…just give her some time-"

"The nerve of her! Does she think she's the only one who's sad!? He may've been her husband but he was my father!"

"She…knew him longer though Tal-"

"But I still get up at five every damn morning to take care of this family." Talon turned to Zelda with a desperate look in her eyes. "I know, we have a lot of money now…but I'm not willing to let these animals die. They still need to be taken care of. Why doesn't anyone appreciate that?"

Zelda gulped slowly and tried to get closer to her friend. "Why don't you hire others to help here?"

"Between taking care of my mother and the brat, do you think I have time to go looking for help?" Talon shook her head and squeezed her palm against her temple. "And that brat. Always with the "_Where's my daddy! Where's my daddy!_" Constantly…Zelda she doesn't stop! I swear I'm gonna…"

The princess finished off the rest of the hay and then took her friend by the hand. "When I get back, I'm going to send people to help you out around here," she said as she led Talon out of the barn. "I'll send a counsellor to speak to you and your family. Actually I'm surprised no one's come yet…"

"They have," Talon groaned. "Mother sent them away. That was before the f…funeral. Then she locked herself away…" she trailed off when she saw her little sister coming towards them from the house. Romani, he had always been so bright and cheerful, now looked dark and angry. She dragged around a beat-up Keaton doll. Zelda recognized the doll as one Link had won her a couple of years back during a festival.

"Romani," the princess said brightly. "Tell me…how're you doing?"

"I'm fine, Zelda," Romani said with a straight face. She then turned to her sister, who returned her look with one of pure malice.

"Don't say it again you b-"

"Where's my daddy! Talon! Where is he!?" Romani screeched. Talon held her hands over her ears and winced. "Where is he, Talon? Tell me where my daddy is!"

"I told you he's gone!" Talon shouted back, but that wasn't good enough for the little girl. Her voice became louder by several decibels. 

"WHERE'S MY DADDY! WHERE IS HE!?"

Talon shrieked and lunged for the girl, but Zelda quickly grabbed her and clamped her hand over her mouth. The farm girl struggled but couldn't get out of Zelda's grip. All the while Romani was shrieking.

"WHERE IS HE? WHERE'S MY DADDY? WHERE-"

"_Romani_"

The girl stopped and became wide-eyed, and she clutched the Keaton doll close to her. The voice in her head belonged to Zelda, but she didn't move her lips. Of course, Romani couldn't understand because she wasn't a magic user. 

In fact, telepathic communication to a person who wasn't magical was extremely difficult, but Zelda could manage it.

"_Romani, please don't make things difficult for your sister._"

The girl glanced around, as if not sure where the voice was coming from.

"_You have to be a good girl, and you have to help your sister._"

"I am a good girl."

Zelda smiled. "_I know…just be a good girl to Talon and your mommy. Help her get better. Can you do that?_"

"I just want to know where my daddy is," Romani said quietly. 

Nodding, Zelda continued reassuringly. "_If you be a good girl and help your mommy and your sister, they'll tell you…but you have to promise to listen to them._" She leaned forward and added, "_You promise?_"

Romani nodded as well. "I promise."

"_Okay then. Go back inside for now._"

When the girl turned to go back into the house, Zelda released Talon from her grip. She turned on the princess angrily and was panting heavily. She stood there and faced off against Zelda, before she started to sway on her feet. Zelda caught her by the shoulders and pulled her close. Then Talon started to cry.

"Zelly…" she said between sobs. "I…I want Rocco here more often. Can you help me?"

Zelda grimaced and looked away. "He's…really taking his job even more seriously now that…well…now that…"

"Things are so much better when he's here," Talon sniffed. "I really need him with me. Couldn't you just…"

Zelda sighed and smiled. She just wouldn't take 'no' would she? Those two must really be getting serious now. "I'll talk to him."

Talon wiped her nose and stepped away from the princess. "Thank you, Zelly…you're a good friend."

Zelda smiled again and hugged her fiercely. "_Yeah…_" she thought with a bit of resignation. "_That's all I am._ _A good friend._"

************

 "Execution!?" Zelda shouted. It was a few hours after she visited the ranch when she returned to the Castle and heard the news from her mother.

"It was a council decision," was all the Queen said, as she was walking a sleepy Tibalt bed. Zelda shot in front of her with her arms held wide.

"Mother! An _execution!_? I know we used to do that…but that before I was born. I thought it was deemed cruel and unusual?"

"Zelda…I agree…but this is a council decision."

"What council? You're the Queen, aren't you? You can override any decision."

The Queen paused, and then she glanced down to the floor. Zelda had never seen her mother so unsure of herself like this before. "I think it's good for the people, Zelly… It's what they want?" 

"It's what they want, or it's what _you_ want?"

Normally something like that would cause her mother to get very angry and scold her, but this time all it caused was a sigh. "It's in two days. There's nothing that can be done about it. Just let it be." With that, she picked Tibalt up and started down the hallway.

Zelda watched her walk by and then stared in front of her, completely vexed. Executed? But…did anyone talk to Rin? Did anyone even ask him why he did what he did?

There had to be a reason why? There had to be meaning to her father's death.

She had to find out. Zelda turned and headed towards the dungeons.

***

She found Rin sitting in a small cell. There was a bench and a window and a latrine, but she found the young man sitting on the floor against a wall. He was staring up into the ceiling. He looked so wan and small, not at all like the man who killed the Hero of the Triforce.

Zelda looked around the room and saw a guard in full armour standing by the cell. He saluted when he saw her. Apparently she was still recognizable, even with her hair short and her makeup off. 

"Bring some food and water for the prisoner," Zelda said simply. The guard blinked and looked at her in confusion.

"But Princess…"

She suddenly twirled on him and slammed him against the bars with her magic. "But Princess? Are you even talking to me!?" She felt so angry…and it was not anger caused by the guard, but it was anger she had held since the moment Link died. She had not even acknowledged it up until this point, but now that she did, it felt like it was going to explode and vaporize the entire Castle. "What kind of Kingdom do you think this is? Do we starve our prisoners? Tell me!"

"P…Princess!"

"Get the hell out and bring the prisoner some food and water! NOW!"

She released the guard, who fell to the ground and immediately started up the stairs to get what the princess demanded.

She turned towards the cell, which flew open at her command and walked inside. As she approached, Rin started to his feet, possibly out of respect. Zelda didn't care. She lifted him off of his feet with her Wisdom and slammed him hard into a nearby wall.

"P…Princess…" he groaned.

"You're going to tell me…_everything _about you… and then you're going to be executed. Did you know that?"

Rin nodded. "Princess…nobody else cares about what I have to say."

Zelda shook her head slowly. "I do. I have to know why he had to die…because…because there has to be a reason for all of this." Again, she glanced towards the Triforce on her hand. "There has to be a reason," she whispered.

"Princess…" Rin bobbed his head. "Okay then. I'll tell you everything."

************

It becomes _his_ story.

The Story of Rin.

He doesn't want any pity, any sympathy…

He only wants to be listened to.

Zelda listens…and after a startling and sudden revelation from the condemned prisoner, she prepares an action.

This action will set her on a path towards a true Destiny.

**Next Chapter:**

**The Legend of Zelda: Her Story**

**Zelda's Action**

Hope you'll enjoy it…and this one. If you read it please review. Until next time! –(o'.')o


	12. Rin's Story Zelda's Action

She turned towards the cell, which flew open at her command and walked inside. As she approached, Rin started to his feet, possibly out of respect. Zelda didn't care. She lifted him off of his feet with her Wisdom and slammed him hard into a nearby wall.

"P…Princess…" he groaned.

"You're going to tell me…_everything _about you… and then you're going to be executed. Did you know that?"

Rin nodded. "Princess…nobody else cares about what I have to say."

Zelda shook her head slowly. "I do. I have to know why he had to die…because…because there has to be a reason for all of this." Again, she glanced towards the Triforce on her hand. "There has to be a reason," she whispered.

"Princess…" Rin bobbed his head. "Okay then. I'll tell you everything."

************

**The Legend of Zelda: Her Story**

**Chapter 11: Rin's Story // Zelda's Action**

**By: The Kirby Kid**

**Disclaimer:**

**The Legend of Zelda™ **is property and copyright of Nintendo. What were you expecting, maybe the Adams Family (Ninja Turtle joke)

**Authors Notes:**

First of all, thanks for everyone who reviewed. **Snowsilver** your comments were hugely appreciated :). **Dark Dragon**, I'll try to answer your questions the best way I can…through story! :). **Idiotbx3**, thanks for your review. Will Link Harkain come back? Hmm….

Okay…and one more note. I've made a crappy little website where I'll upload some pictures from my stories. Hopefully I'll finish some scenes from my stories I've been working on. It's at . For some reason, Fanfiction.Net won't let me post links in my story. So the best way to find it is by checking out my authors profile if it doesn't show up here.

Well thanks for your support. Oh, and this is yet another lengthy chapter. :p

Enjoy the story, and please review!

************

My mother's name is Jezarin. She lived in a small woodland community in the Kingdom of Calatia. She believed she was a wandering prophet. She always had these dreams and premonitions, and it bid her to become a nomad. She couldn't really stay in one place for a long time.

Prophets weren't treated either seriously or very well in Calatia…they don't really have a feel for magic like Hyrule does. So, for a while Jezarin got through life by…well…basically whoring herself off for money and favours I don't know what to say about that. 

I guess if you're young and you've got no home or no drive to settle down…that'll happen.

Anyway…this little bit happened to be one of her favourite stories. One day she found herself pregnant, which for her was something she was accustomed to. The problem was, this pregnancy came to term. You see, everything Jezarin tried to abort me, failed. She used every herb combination in the Guidebook, and she even went to surgeons …but nothing work. I was born, and she named me **Fala**. It means…"_The will of the Gods_." 

Anyway, Jezarin obviously saw my birth as a sign, so she kept me around. I guess as far as mother's go…she wasn't too bad. She kept me fed and clothed. That's about all she did, really. She was getting really heavy into her visions now. She started getting premonitions about the _'Day of Evil'_. All I knew about it at the time was it had something to do with Ganon. Whenever she got a crowd going with her stories, she was constantly in danger of getting lynched. Even Calatia knew enough not to joke where Ganon was involved.

So we'd leave and travel from village to village…and that's how it went until I was five. It seems like a very long time, but it went rather quickly. I was really just living in a haze…from moment to moment. Then when around the time I turned five, Jezarin found an audience that didn't condemn her. They called themselves Ghanims.

She used her charisma and visions to gain new members, and together they travelled throughout Calatia. Some of the men tried to teach me a bit about fighting, to get me into the whole _Ghanim Philosophy_. They told me I was a natural, but I was to young to understand…or to care.

Jezarin then had another vision. It was of  'the great Ghanim' Knata's near total destruction of Hyrule and its hero: Link. She knew it was doomed to failure, but still they decided to travel across the sea to Hyrule. There they tried to gain new members… 

…And they assassinated your Prince.

***

Zelda blinked absently, and then felt another wave of fury ripple through her waiflike body. "Your mother's group killed…killed my father?"

After taking another sip from a bowl of tomato soup, he nodded gravely. "I was…around twelve at the time. I didn't really care about what was going on, so I didn't know what as going down. Maybe I should have paid more attention…"

"But…but he was from Calatia. Why would they want to…I mean…didn't they hate Hyrule?"

Rin took another sip, and sighed heavily. "But they did hurt Hyrule…didn't the?"

Realizing this was true, Zelda bit her lip and fell silent.

"Hyrule's response should have been proof enough. Your Knights nearly obliterated us."

The princess leaned forward on the small cell's cot, and she eyed Rin keenly. "Continue…"

***

Like I said, you're Knights nearly obliterated us. They didn't get all of us though. I escaped, as did Jezarin and a few others. We made our way back to Calatia, and they began to rebuild their numbers. You couldn't imagine the amount of people who were unhappy with their life…with the Kingdom of Hyrule…with the goddesses. You couldn't fathom the number of idiots who believe that Ganon had it right the entire time. It didn't take long for our group to regain our presence…even after the massacre in Hyrule.

During that time something happened…and it completely changed my life. Jezarin got pregnant again. This time she didn't try to abort it. She thought it'd be some kind of 'special' child…that was what her premonitions were telling her. My sister, Nubarin was born…and I found a purpose in my life.

My sister and I…despite being surrounded by all these people…we were alone. We only had each other. I…um….

I really cared about something…it was the first time in my life I felt that way. Heh…her first word was 'Fala'. She heard Jezarin screaming it several times whenever I did something stupid.

With Nubarin around…the haze of life…it really began to lift, you know?

Anyway…I…let me say this. There was this time when Nubarin was about to be attacked. You see there were a lot of people where we lived, and some of them were sick…sick people. This one person…this big…old man…he wanted Nubarin. He was going to hurt her, so I stepped in. I didn't have a sword on me…and he was much bigger than I was. He swatted me away like I was a fly.

Then…my hand got really hot, and this flame started to shoot out. It was really hot but it didn't burn, and it shaped itself like a long Gerudo blade. When it happened, this name popped into my head. I knew it was called 'Halef'. I didn't know what it meant…and I still don't know…but with Halef I was able to save my sister.

***

"_Halef…_" Zelda thought uneasily. "_Is it…the same as Gram? It's just too similar._" She stared hard into Rin's face as he continued to gulp down his soup, and her feelings became conflicted. Rin had told her that he only wanted her to listen…that he didn't want her pity or sympathy…and Zelda didn't want to give either to him.

But looking at this person.... this seemingly gentle person, she couldn't see the man who had killed her father before her eyes. It seemed surreal, to even be in the same room. She wanted to leave Rin to his thoughts and to his fate, a fate he probably deserved…alone.

"_I just want to know why,_" she told herself forcefully, and she continued to listen to his story.

***

Well…when Halef appeared Jezarin took it as a sign. She started having more visions about the future…and she had me especially trained in sword arts and in magic too. I could never see the threads of magic…not like Jezarin or even my sister could…but I could sense it a little bit. 

Anyway, I soon realized why I was being trained so hard. She wanted me to go to Hyrule by myself and kill the Invincible Sir Link. 

I…I didn't even know who he was. So far I had done nothing for the Ghanim cause…the only thing I did was wear their clothes and eat their food. To be asked to do such a huge thing. I was scared, and I was angry. I didn't want to do it.

That's when Jezarin…she…. she started to hurt my sister. She knew it was the only thing I really cared about…that if she tortured me she wouldn't get what she wanted. But if she did it to Nubarin…

I couldn't believe it. She was her own daughter…she was just a child. She had no idea why her mother ignored her like she did…and why she was hurting her now. Her screams…they …something inside of me snapped. I agreed to do what they asked.

Jezarin was able to keep tabs of my movements through her water-style magic. She communicated with me wherever there was a pool of water. When I finally reached Hyrule…I stayed in Castle Town during the day and I floated around the Castle during the night. I had to keep tabs on the movements of the Knights. Heh…you couldn't imagine how surprised I was each night I wasn't caught.

I faked that attack on you to confuse your Knights and to get caught. By that time Jezarin had cast a Confidence Spell on me…it made everyone trust my words and actions implicitly. Then I lured you with fake reports on Ghanim activities, while Jezarin fooled your eyes with shadow clones. They attacked but would usually disappear after taking a hit. It was all to draw Invincible into the trap at No Man's Land.

Jezarin had the shadow clones ready there…and she also created an anti-Wisdom rain to fall. It would only last five-ten minutes…and that's all the time I had. I had to act, or Nubarin would die…and I'm sorry. That's all I cared about.

When I faced off against Invincible…I was never so scared in my life.

***

"That's it," Rin whispered. "After that I wasn't contacted by Jezarin anymore. I suppose as far as she's concerned…my role in life is done. The reason I was born despite all attempts to the contrary…the reason Halef came to me…the reason my sister was born…it was all so that I'd kill Invincible. At least, that's what I believe…"

He glanced up to the princess, who quickly turned away. The look on her face was indiscernible. "Do you…know… when I'll be executed, Princess?"

Rising up from the cot, she shook her head and turned towards the cell door. "I'll make sure you're made a little more comfortable until then," she whispered. "I didn't know they weren't feeding you. I…I don't agree with what they're going to do to you, Rin…but I can't do anything about it. I can tell you it'll be quick and painless."

Rin shrugged his shoulders as the princess left the cell. She locked the door behind her with her Wisdom, and before she completely left the dungeons, she turned to the young man one more time. "Rin…"

His head rose and his eyes met hers.

"You may believe…that you've sacrificed your own life for the life of your sister's…. that you're some kind of conflicted hero who just made a choice. But you know what you are? You're selfish."

Rin took in a sharp breath at the comment and leaned forward. "Princess…"

"You're a selfish man, who took the life of another to save a life _you_ knew…_you_ cared about!" Zelda brushed tears from her eyes angrily and quickly continued. "Did you care about the people Link cared about? Did you think about Malon or Talon or Romani? Did you even think about my mother, or me? No! You only cared about your sister…and that was just so selfish…"

"If it were your brother, against someone who was basically a stranger, what would you have done?"

Zelda didn't answer that. She turned and headed up the stairs; sorry she had come down into this dungeon in the first place.

************

The word came down into the dungeon the next day. Rin would be executed at noon tomorrow.

Rin didn't care. He was completely at peace with his fate. Sure, he'd be gone…and Nubarin would be alone with those awful people, but at least she would be alive. She'd grow, as he did, and she'd survive. She'd get away from those people and make a life for herself. 

Rin closed his eyes and slumped in head against the wall. Yes…two lives were worth hers. Zelda was right…it was selfish…but it was what people were, and he was at peace with it.

That all changed in the afternoon.

The guard opened the cell to bring Rin his lunch, some soup, a bowl of water and some bread and cheese. Rin accepted the food graciously while the guard offered it grudgingly. He took the tray and sat in a corner of the cell.

When he went to take a sip of water from the bowl, her image appeared in its stirring waters.

"Jezarin," he hissed.

The face smiled. "_You've done well boy. It took me a while to confirm your success…but I finally got word. Well done._"

Rin stared back and said nothing.

"_Hmm_," the face hummed. "_I've also heard that they're going to kill you tomorrow. That's unfortunate._"

"Don't pretend to care," Rin sighed. "In any case…I don't. As long as you keep your end of the bargain. Take Nubarin away from there…drop her off at a convent or a hospital. I'll die happy with that."

The face smiled. "_I don't think she'd be happy with that,_" she sniggered.

"I don't care. She'll live…that's all that matters."

"_Hmm…._"

Rin suddenly froze, and his eyes grew wide. Clutching the trembling bowl in his shaking hands, he leaned into its waters and whispered, "What is it?"

"_I'm sorry, boy. I can't let her live._"

The air stopped cold in Rin's lungs.

"_I've had another vision, you see. I see the girl becoming too strong for me to handle. I see her usurping me, taking my Ghanims from me. I can't let that happen. So I'm going to stop her before that can happen._"

"No…" Rin held softly.

"_I might as well tell you what I plan to do, seeing as to how you'll be dead and all that,_" she said with a derisive laugh. "_I'm building a device…a special room…and I'll use it to extract all of her magical energy. It'll take a while to finish…weeks…maybe even a month. Who knows? What I do know is that once she's been drained…I wont have any more need for her._"

"YOU WITCH!" Rin blasted as he rose to his feet furiously. The guard glanced at him curiously and he frantically turned and whispered, "You…You can't do this. Please…I'm begging you…"

"_Goodbye, Fala. Thank you for accomplishing _my _will…_" With those last words, the face vanished from the bowl of water.

Rin stood there for a moment, clutching the bowl with ever-bloodless fingers, before he wailed and slammed it into the floor. It shattered and sprayed water throughout the room.

"Settle down in there!" the guard fumed. Rin jetted over to the bars and gripped them violently. 

"Let me talk to the Princess!" he screamed. The guard rapped his knuckles with the hilt of his weapon, but Rin simply moved over to another set of bars and screamed again. "I have to talk to her! Send her down here please!"

"I said settle down!" the guard hollered, and he jabbed Rin through the bars with the end of his weapon. 

Rin hit the ground clutching his side, but he wouldn't let up. He rammed the bars again and continued to scream and yell. His voice carried throughout the dungeons. He wouldn't stop until he was finally heard.

***

When Zelda reached the dungeons, she saw a dishevelled and disturbed looking Rin hanging on to the bars of his cell. The guard greeted her warily, still recalling how she had manhandled him the day before.

"Please leave us," Zelda politely asked. The guard nodded stiffly and made his way out of the dungeons. Zelda walked towards the bars and looked down at Rin with a look that bordered on contempt. 

"You wanted to talk to me?"

Gripping the bars with desperation, Rin rose and faced the princess with his head down. "You're not going to like what I have to say," he said softly…unevenly. He gulped and rose to meet her eyes. "They…they're going to kill her."

Zelda knew exactly what he was talking about. There was a moment of silence, and then her eyes narrowed angrily. "What did you think was going to happen?"

Rin was taken aback. "W…what?"

"Did you think that you could just kill Link and everything would be fine for her? Do you think a person capable of torturing her own daughter would keep any sort of promise?" She turned away from him in disdain. "You're an idiot. You killed him for nothing."

"I couldn't let them…!"

Zelda shrugged. "Why did you call me here? You want me to let you go, is that it?"

Rin shook his head adamantly and gripped the bars even harder. "I just want to ask…no…beg of you to help her. Please, even if you can go, maybe with some Knights…"

"You really think they'd bother with something like-"

"SHE'S INNOCENT!" Rin blasted. Zelda took a step back, and Rin gulped and lowered his head against the bars. "I can't help her anymore…" he cried.

Zelda stared at him for a moment longer, before she closed her eyes and turned away. Rin repeatedly called after her, but Zelda didn't hear him any more. Without another word, she exited the dungeons.

************

That night, Zelda lay silently on her bed and watched the moon drape a shallow light across the room. Moto lay next to her head, also wide awake, and sniffing into the princess's pillow.

Zelda couldn't sleep because she was busy thinking about the total unfairness of everything that was happening. She'd lost her father…her real father, as did her best friend and her family. Hyrule had lost their hero, and even the Triforce had lost a champion.

And for what?

The 'Confidence Spell' had dissipated, and she could sense Rin completely now. She saw the true Rin…a person living with much guilt and anguish. He was a person who seemed very unhappy…yet at the same time completely willing to die. But now…what he just told her…Zelda knew it was true.

It just wasn't fair.

She'd gone down there to hear Rin's story, to find a reason why all of this had happened. For a moment, she thought she had it. Now everything has changed.

What should she do?

What would Link do? Either of them…

Zelda raised her right hand, and Gram coalesced in a shard of blue crystalline light. She held the blade and stared into it, losing herself in it's perfect form… in it's brightness and colour, and she sighed.

Gram…Halef…

The blade flashed with an angry light and short shorted itself out of existence. Zelda drew her hand away and shot up into a sitting position, rubbing her hand gingerly. When she did, she glanced at the Triforce of Wisdom on the back of her hand. She eyed the thin crack that ran along all three of the symbols.

As she gazed into the symbol, the sound of running water rushed between her ears. It was there for a second, and then it was gone.

Zelda sighed loudly and fell on her back. She den lay on her side, facing Moto, who licked her nose playfully. Zelda smiled.

The princess wished she had never gone down to hear Rin's story.

************

Finally, the day came. Rin sat quietly in his cell as guards and clerics shifted in and out of the dungeons. He was desperately thinking of a way to escape…a way to get to his sister. The Hylians offered him a Last Meal; a great breakfast that was fit even for a king…but Rin didn't eat anything. He simply couldn't stomach any food. As the minutes passed, the scones and pancakes, sausages and bacon grew cold and stale.

He flexed his right hand and cursed his fate. If he had only known Jezarin would go back on her oath. He wouldn't have allowed the Queen and her matron to cast the Binding spell in him. It took a long time to cast and a lot of concentration, but it was able to seal away his ability to call Halef. Now he couldn't use it to escape.

"_She's right,_" he lamented. "_I am an idiot._" He squeezed his eyes shut and clasped his hands together. "_Damn it…_"

It would only be a few minutes to noon. There wasn't much time left.

"Hey, who are you?"

Rin raised his head and looked outside the bars. There he saw his guard arguing with another guard that had just entered the dungeon.

"Who do hell do you think I am?" the guard shouted back as he brandished his name-crest at the other soldier. "Don't you know what time it is?"

Rin's guard shifted uncomfortably. "I thought I was going to bring him up?"

"This guys extremely dangerous…and word is he might think of escaping. Come on, open it up."

The guard grunted and opened the cell, and the new one entered and roughly pulled Rin to his feet by his arm. Rin felt a slight tinge of pain run up and down his arm, but it faded quickly.

Tossed to the other guard like a sack of wheat, Rin was led up the stairs and out of the dungeons. Several Knights and some clerics eventually flanked him, and he was led outside the Castle and into the Courtyard. Rin saw that in the Courtyard they had the device for his death assembled and ready. 

It was a simple gurney surrounded by shadowy clerics and other Knights. Rin could see many of what the Hylians called First Rank watching him intently as he was led to the gurney. As he was strapped down, he looked to the outer walls of the Courtyard, and he saw several bystanders on the ramparts, along with archers and the like. Further down the courtyard he saw what seemed to be all of Castle Town standing and watching, separated from the scene by several yards and a line of guards.

"_Public execution eh?_" Rin thought to himself sardonically. "_I suppose they really really hate me._" Then he noticed one person in particular amongst the townspeople. Princess Zelda stood at the front of the crowd, her arms crossed and her gaze disapproving.

"_Well…she did say that she didn't agree with this,_" Rin surmised. "_She must be the only one._" Rin turned his head and saw the Queen, the prince, her matron and Link's family sitting up on a balcony overlooking the Courtyard. 

Rin tested his binds gingerly. He was clasped down to the gurney with iron shackles on his wrists and across his chest and legs. He wasn't going anywhere.

A cleric of the Temple of Time stepped forward and started to speak. "Your highness, beloved family of the Hero, people of Hyrule…" he began with a booming voice. "Today we are here in witness to the death of this man, as it is still mandated by the Law of the Land. We do not take joy in taking the life of another, nor shall we rejoice or celebrate. However, we must understand and respect our Laws, and we must understand…"

Rin drowned the voice out of his head and stared up into the skies. It was actually a good day today. He had expected executions and deaths to be dark and gloomy. In fact, now that he thought about it…if it wasn't for Jezarin's rain, Invincible's death would have happened on a nice day too.

In any case, he didn't want that vile woman to be the last thing in his mind. He couldn't think about his sister either…about how he had disappointed her so gravely. Instead he turned his head and looked into the crowd again. Zelda was looking right back at him.

"I said, 'do you have any last words?'"

Rin snapped back into focus and glanced over at the cleric standing to his left. He shook his head in answer to the question, and waited for his fate. The cleric looked up into the balcony, and the Queen gave him just the slightest of nods. 

"_Quick and painless eh?_"

A dark robed cleric with a shawl covering her entire face walked up to Rin with medical tube with a pointed delivery tip. It was filled with a strange glowing liquid.

Rin's heart began to rattle between his ribcage. 

*THUMP THUMP*  *THUMP THUMP*

The executioner jabbed the tip into Rin's neck, and the liquid was flushed into his body. 

*THUMP THUMP* *THUMP THUMP*

Rin's hands clenched into fists, and they tightened until they shook.

*THUMP THUMP* *THUMP*

His breath quickened, and his eyes darted all over. He felt strangely numb…

*THUMP…THUMP…*

"_I…was an idiot…_"

*THUMP…. *

"_Yes…you were…_" 

*THUMP…*

*…*

*…*

Rin exhaled, and he lay perfectly still. The executioner checked his pulse, and then nodded to the priest.

The cleric turned to the royalty and into the crowd and started with a Hylian prayer for the souls of Rin and his victims. The others closed their eyes, bowed their heads and followed in the prayer solemnly. The Princess stood at the front of the crowd and stared into Rin's thin form, before she too bowed her head.

When they finished, the cleric raised his hands to speak to the people again. "What we have just been witness to is a testament to our Kingdom…of our humaneness and of our strength. We must look back at this day and take heart in the knowledge that no enemy of our Kingdom will strike at us and not be brought to justice…"

*THUMP*

"However, we cannot forget that this man was a Elvin-being, like the rest of us, and we must not take any joy or pleasure in what has happened…"

*THUMP THUMP*

"So then, let us pray one more time that the blessed Goddesses bless him, bless his victims, and bless our Kingdom…"

*THUMP THUMP* *THUMP THUMP*

The First Rank of Knights knew what was happening even as the loudmouthed cleric continued to blather on, even before Rin's eyes flew open.

The irons that were holding him down suddenly broke open, and Rin didn't ask any questions, nor did he hesitate. He sprung up from the gurney and took the attack from the first guard to reach him head on. He sidestepped a vertical swing of the sword, grabbed the guard's hand and wrenched his arm behind his back. The guard dropped the sword in pain. Rin finished by kicking the guard in the back and picking up his sword as the guard stumbled to the ground.

The First Rank were racing towards him, but for some reason they kept stumbling as well. They seemed to be tripping over their own feet. Rin looked up to the balcony as the Queen and her matron rose to her feet, but from the shocked look in their faces, he knew they couldn't use their magics on him. 

Rin didn't think about it. He rushed towards the crowd at full speed, even as arrows from the archers zinged by his ears and sliced at his hair. He only had one target.

The crowd backed off instinctively as Rin ploughed through the thin line of guards, and towards the shocked Princess, who stood as still as a statue. With one swift movement, he took the princess's arm, swung behind her and placed the sword at her neck.

"HOLD KNIGHTS!!!" The Queen screeched at the top of her lungs. The First Rank stopped and stood completely still, as did the guards and the archers throughout the Courtyard.

Rin pulled the sword closer towards Zelda's neck. "Don't come any closer…not anyone of you…." He glanced at the princess. "No tricks. Remember I can sense magic. I swear…"

"You're not going to hurt me, Rin," Zelda said softly.

The boy grimaced and gripped the sword tighter. "Take us out of here. Use your magic and take us as far away as possible."

"Rin!" The Queen screamed. "Don't do this! I'll commute your sentence, if that's what you want! I'll help you, but don't make anything worse!"

"Take us out of here," Rin hissed. "Now!"

The Queen was bearing down on him with her violently angry blue eyes, and she gripped the balcony railing with white knuckles. "You will _not_ get away…" she grated between her teeth.

Zelda raised her hand slightly and gave her mother a little wave and smiled. Then, with a rush of winds and leaves, she and her captor were gone.

************

They reappeared in a large green field. There was a small port town in the horizon, and the sea was plainly visible in the distance. Seagulls flew around lazily near the town and over the field.

Rin recognize this place. It was near the port town of Termia. It was the first town he'd encountered when he set foot on Hyrule. Across that sea was the Kingdom of Calatia.

Taken in by the memories of his travel, it took a second for Rin to realize that he couldn't move a muscle.

The princess stepped out of his frozen grasp and faced him evenly. Rin looked at her and strained against his invisible restraints.

"So much for being able to sense magic, huh Rin?"

Rin gulped. "What's…. going on…."

Zelda stepped away from him and looked to the east…in the direction of Hyrule. "I…did this."

"What!?"

"I freed you, Rin." Zelda turned to him with a lonely expression. "The guard that visited you before you were led out…"

The guard grunted and opened the cell, and the new one entered and roughly pulled Rin to his feet by his arm. Rin felt a slight tinge of pain run up and down his arm, but it faded quickly

"…That was me," she finished.

Rin blinked and strained against his restraints again, to no avail. "You…did something to me?"

Zelda nodded. "I researched the poison they were going to use the night before, and I looked up a spell to counter it. It's a forbidden spell…understand? It had the ability to save you from death just once. Apparently I can only use it once every year. It took me all night to get it ready."

Rin suddenly understood. "You…broke my restraints. You held up the Knights…you stopped the Queen and Impa from casting magic?"

Zelda nodded sadly, and Rin was aghast. This girl…she was incredibly powerful. Did she even realize how much skill she must have had to do all of that? 

"Why?"

The princess turned towards Hyrule again and then up into the clear sky. "When you told me your story…about why you did what you did…I had a reason at last. At least…that's what I thought." She turned to him and faced him evenly. "Then you told me that they were going to kill your sister."

Rin gulped again, and he glanced away from her.

"Whether you'd like to admit it or not, you've put a price on Link's life. His life was worth Nubarin's. It's the reason he died. If…if she's killed…then I would have lost him for nothing." Tears began to well up in her eyes, and she shut them angrily. "He was my father, my real father…"

"P-princess…"

"I want you to realize what I've done, Rin. I've abandoned my friends and family…I've betrayed them, but I did it because I had to find a reason for all of this."

She flashed her right hand, and the curved dagger Gram sprung from her palm. "I was thinking last night…and I remembered something he told me one day, soon after I returned from the Dark World. He said that he didn't believe in coincidences." She looked hard into Rin's eyes and brought Gram up in front of her face. "I don't either. There is a reason for all of this…a big reason…and if I have to rescue your sister to find it, I will."

Gram dissipated into blue mist and she held her hand gingerly. "This…is Destiny…"

"Princess."

Zelda jumped back from her thoughts and looked at Rin. For a moment it seemed like she was talking to herself, and she regarded the half-Gerudo seriously again.

"I promise you, after we've rescued Nubarin…I'll submit myself to your Kingdom's punishment."

Zelda blinked curiously. "What?"

Rin smiled and let out a small chuckle. "I'm sure Nubarin will be sad…but she's strong, she'll get past it. As long as she's with people like you, I'm sure she'll survive. That's all I ask. I swear to you, once we're done in Calatia, your Kingdom will have their justice for my crime."

Zelda stared for a moment, and then waved her hand briefly. Rin fell to the ground, released from his magical bind. As he rose back to his feet, he watched as the gown she was wearing dissipated into the air. It revealed that she was wearing a thin dark short-sleeved shirt that fit close to her form, and a simple red vest on top of that. Buckled at her waist was a pair of baggy hiking/riding pants, and brown boots covered her feet. 

Looking up at the girl now, with these simple clothes, her short hair, her freckled face and her blue green eyes, Rin understood. This was the real princess Zelda.

The princess walked up to him and pointed to his chest. "You're promise is all well and good…but you should know that it means nothing to me. That's why I created my own insurance."

Rin looked down at his chest, and then back to her. "Insurance? Wait…you mean you just didn't give me a counter-death spell when you came to my cell?"

Zelda shook her head and wore a mean smile. "Nope. I also put a curse on you."

Rin blinked nervously.

"It's a very tricky spell. You see…as soon as I get the feeling…the mere instinct that you're betraying me again, your heart will explode."

Rin gulped noisily.

"I'm not going to be fooled by you again, Rin. If you or anyone, _anyone_ I believe is in on it betrays me, I'll destroy you all." Her face softened, and she sat down on the soft grass and sighed. "Now sit down, I have to undo that bind my mother and Impa put on you. If we're going to do this, you're going to need Halef as much as I'll need Gram."

With a nod, Rin followed Zelda to the ground, and allowed her to weave her Wisdom.

************

The Queen had been sitting alone in the Castle's huge antechamber for nearly an hour when Impa walked in. She saw her sitting alone and went to her with a heavy heart. "_Goddess,_" she prayed silently, "_how much can one person take?_"

"Zelda…" Impa said as she took a seat next to the Queen. "Please don't worry. I have the best Knights searching for her. It shouldn't take…"

"Don't bother," the Queen whispered.

Impa glowered furiously at the Queen's attitude and pressed on. "Zelda, I'm sure she's okay."

The Queen let out a small laugh. "Of course she is Impa." She turned and faced her evenly. "She was responsible for the whole thing."

"You're saying…Zelda ran away with him?" Impa shook her head in disbelief. "But why?"

The Queen shrugged and twirled a strand of her golden locks absently. "Whatever reason she has…I'm sure she believes it's important."  She turned to face her and Impa was surprised by her expression. It was actually one of relief, and hope. "She's a strong girl, Impa. I know she'll be fine. And I know when she's ready to tell us what is happening, she will. She does bear the **Triforce of Wisdom**, after all."

Impa stared at the Queen, and then closed her eyes and smiled. "Indeed," she said. "I suppose she does at that."

************

It took the entire afternoon to undo the bind, and when Zelda was finished, the sun was beginning to sink back into the ocean. She sat with her back to Rin, staring off into the west, and she sighed.

"Rin, this is as far from Hyrule as I've ever been. **Farore's Wind** won't be able to take us any further."

Rin nodded. "Then we'll just have to take a boat to Calatia, princess."

"I forgot to bring any rupees."

Rin turned and stared at her, and she gave him a goofy smile. "I had to forget something in all of this planning, didn't I?"

As she said it, Moto peeked out from beneath her dark blouse and skittered up to rest on her head. This was one journey the little creature had no intention of missing.

Rin smiled at her and waved a hand reassuringly. "Don't worry, princess. We'll find a way."

"And I don't think it'll be appropriate for you to be calling me 'princess' for now. I'll have to disguise you somehow… at least until we get until Calatia. Oh, and 'Zelly' or 'Zelda' won't work either."

"I understand. So then, what shall I call you?"

Zelda patted Moto and looked up into the sky, staring at nothing in particular. Her mind was in another place and time, and for a while she sat there with the soft wind blowing through her hair.

Finally she turned to him with a smile and said, "When we're in public, you'll call me…'Itali'."

***

The princess of Zelda is now on the run with the very person who killed her father. What good can come of this? Is this truly Destiny? Why does she call herself 'Itali'? Does she hope to get the attention of a certain somebody…assuming he's even in Calatia?

All these questions and more will be answered…and a lot more questions will be created…

But not in the next chapter.

In the next chapter, the Gerudo take centre stage. Palta and Tella, still shaken by the recent events in Hyrule, must put aside their feelings for their friend Zelly, and try their hardest in a gruelling test to determine who will next wear the mantle of Gerudo Den Mother.

Palta and Tella, twins…identical in every way. Or are they?

**Interlude 1:**

**The Legend of Zelda: Her Story**

**The Unbreakable Barrier**

Enjoy the Desert Sands. 

Please review if you read :). –(o'.')o


	13. The Unbreakable Barrier

**The Legend of Zelda: Her Story**

**Interlude 1: The Unbreakable Barrier**

**By: The Kirby Kid**

Look at Profile for Website 

**Disclaimer:**

**The Legend of Zelda™ **is property and copyright of Nintendo.

**Authors Notes:**

Short notes this time. First of all, gee…another kinda long chapter. What is it like, my 4th one in a row? Yeesh! 

Anyhoo, most importantly, Big Thanks to everyone who reviewed last time:  **Snowsilver** and **Idiotbx3**, **Reader **and **Dinadan Feasin**, thanks for your input. I'm not discouraged. Though I like reviews, a lot…. I don't write for them and I won't stop writing unless I get REALLY bored of this story. 

Still, that's not gonna stop me from asking for reviews if you read my stuff, pretty please. :)

On a sour note…I'm really getting pissed at Word 2000 and FF.Net. First I get no more Centering…and now Italics and Bolds disappear at random. Why can't I just upload the story as I write it in Word? Nothing works! It's real frustrating. Anyway, if you see weird formatting…you know why.

Enjoy this Interlude…a peek into the lives of the soon-to-be famous Gerudo twins.

************

To most Hylians, it would seem like the Gerudo of the Desert took the death of Invincible and the subsequent escape of his executor along with the kidnapping of the princess with cavalier. The truth was that the Gerudo felt the pain very acutely. 

Invincible was not only a Hero of the Hylians but because he was half-Gerudo, he was the Desert Tribeswomen's hero as well. He was intimate with their dearly departed Nabooru, and was generally liked and respected by all of them. 

Zelda was of course the Queen's daughter, and the Queen was very close to the Gerudo Tribe. She was in fact Nabooru's sister by a blood-pact, and so she and her children were forever correlated with the Gerudo. So they were just as angry and as sick with worry because of the recent events in Hyrule as the Hylians were.

However, the Gerudo weren't people to sit and spend their time worrying about things they really couldn't control. The Gerudo tend to concentrate on their matters and they try not to get involved in the undertakings of the other races. This sort of apathy evolved from the years of war their leader Ganondorf had in years past involved them in. 

In any case, the tribe was currently involved in another issue of great significance. With a decision that baffled many Gerudo, including Palta and Tella who were good friends of Zelly, Andala had decided to begin the Ascension Journey. 

The Journey was a weeklong competition between the best the Gerudo had to offer. It was a test to discover the toughest and the brightest young woman in the tribe, a young woman who would eventually wear the mantle of Gerudo **Den Mother**. Andala, who currently held that title, and many of the Gerudo elders often remarked about Nabooru; and how if she were still alive, she would be an automatic pick for the next Den Mother, for she had all the qualities necessary for the role.

Palta couldn't understand why Andala chose to hold the test now, of all times. Zelly was her friend! They should have been doing something to help the Hylians find her!

And even after a girl had been picked, she didn't see Andala giving up the position. She was only in her late forties, and Palta didn't see her retiring any time soon. Palta had the distinct impression that invoking the Ascension Journey had the secondary purpose of taking their minds off of what was going on in Hyrule.

Palta did not like that one bit. However, she revelled in the opportunity to show that she had what it took to become the Den Mother. Most of all she delighted in the chance to show that she was better than her twin sister, Tella. 

In fact, you could say she lived for it.

So on the same night that they discovered what had happened to Zelly, the Journey began. Thirty young Gerudo, including Palta and Tella gathered around the racing track up on the hill behind the main Fortress. There stood a throng of spectators that included Andala, elders, mature women and children. They were calling out names of those who had volunteered for the Journey.

Tella sidled up to her sister and nudged her in the ribs with her elbow. "Look at all these sad hopefuls, eh little sister?" she said with a smirk. 

It was one of her many quirks that annoyed Palta to no end, the worst being Tella calling her 'little sister'. It was something all the women called her, simply because she was born less than half-an-hour after Tella. Because of those measly thirty minutes, Palta was always given the short-end compared to Tella, and she was constantly underrated. It wasn't right, it wasn't fair, and she was going to make sure that it would come to an end real soon.

"There are benefits for those who do well in the Journey and not win," she reminded her twin. "Plus…you know, it is not guaranteed that one of us will win this. There are many talented girls here…"

Nodding her head, Tella added her agreement. She also added, "But come on, you know how the elders talk. They are clearly expecting one of us to take this. It will be our chance to show everyone who doubts us that we are the best the Gerudo has to offer, and it does not matter if we have small Hylian noses. Don't you agree? Huh? Don't you?"

Tella nailed her again in the ribs and Palta shrugged it off uncomfortably. It was true that she was tired of the other Gerudo calling them _Hylisoba_, which meant 'Dark Hylians.' It was true that both she and her sister lacked the long majestic nose of their Tribeswomen. Many of the Hylians considered Palta and Tella to be dark, exotic beauties. Some Gerudo made fun of them and considered them ugly, sort of like another famous pair of Gerudo twins… 

Palta was still mulling over this when Andala called out her name. She walked up to her, who was standing near the stables, and handed her a chestnut brown mare and a short bow and arrow set. Palta slung the bows across her back, pulled herself up to her horse and started stepping slowly to the starting line of the course.

The first test of the Ascension Journey was a horseback archery competition. The test was built on a point system, and it was designed to remove those who frivolously entered the Journey. There were ten targets, and each bull's-eye brought you ten points. A hit in the inner circle brought you five, and a hit in the outer circle got you one. And of course, you could miss altogether. Each girl had three runs at the course, and the scores were averaged out. Those with an average of 70 or higher passed. It wasn't as if those who didn't pass this were horrible archers. In fact girls who scored around 50 were considered highly skilled. However, this was an extremely difficult test, only those with genius ability had the slightest chance of passing and moving on in the Journey. 

Palta drew an arrow and held it against the wood of her bow while using her legs to keep her horse still. She looked ahead at the course; a twenty-yard path that was lined with ten targets several meters to her right. The targets also differed by many feet in height. She had been given ten arrows. Palta had read that this was Nabooru's best event, and that she had actually hit every bull's-eye all three times. 

The girl narrowed her eyes and notched her arrow. She wouldn't be left behind. Like her sister said, it was time to show everyone what she had to offer.

Andala blew on her whistle, bringing a shrill note of music into the air, and Palta started off. Urging her horse forward with nudges from her knees, she fired off ten quick shots, and finished the course quickly. All of her arrows hit near the bull's-eye, inside the inner circle, but she didn't actually nail a bull's-eye. She huffed with disappointed and dismounted her mare. An elder wrote down on a black writing board that she had received fifty points. She'd get two more chances before the night was over, and she was determined to improve her score.

A few girls went through the course; some with good scores, and some with scores so low that there was really no point in taking their other two turns. Then it was Tella's turn. 

Palta watched as her sister got up on her young black mare and notched her bow at the ready. When the whistle blew, Tella took the course at full speed, raised the bow directly above her head and fired off ten shots. Palta thought that was extremely strange, because that archery stance was more useful for long-distance targets. However it proved useful; Tella got two bull's-eyes and the rest of her arrows struck within the inner circle. It netted her sixty points, the second highest so far. The first belonged to a girl named Anesti, who got three bull's-eyes, six inner circles and one outer circle for a score of sixty-one.

The first turn of the archery competition thinned the applicants to nearly half of their number. The numbers were thinned further after the second round. Palta scored sixty-five points this time around and Tella scored again with sixty.

After the end of the second round, Tella came up to her sister once again. "Great Nabooru," she said as she tugged on her short braids, "if we keep up like this we are not even going to survive this first test."

Palta nodded. "It is quite distressing. I thought we would do better…"

"Well, there is one last turn isn't there?" Tella said with a smile. "We have to do ridiculously well to pass, but I think we can. What do you think?"  She put her hand on her sister's shoulders and squeezed reassuringly. "It is time for us to stop playing around. This should be effortless for us, so let's do it."

"I know that," Palta pouted. Her name was then called, and with a shrug to her sister, she left for her horse. She climbed atop of it and let out a settling breath. She could do this; she knew it for certain. She only had to focus. "Focus," she thought critically.

She nudged her horse forward, notched her bow and closed her eyes. All she had to do was focus. Focus in the movement of the horse, along with the movement of the wind, and the length of the target. She had to bring them all into one underlying factor, one dynamic that would effect whether she hit the bull's-eye or not. If she succeeded in doing this, if she could focus all factors into one, then she could find the simple solution towards her goal: the bull's-eye.

So Palta concentrated as her horse galloped ahead on the course in slow motion, and she focused her thoughts. When she opened her eyes, she didn't see the crowd, or the course, or even the horse underneath her. She only saw the targets the size of houses surrounded by pitch-black darkness. The bull's-eye was enormous, and it was begging to be hit. And so, Palta hit them. 

A roar from the crowd brought her out of her focus, and she realized that she was at the end of the course. She dismounted and looked back with amazement. Palta had gotten all ten of the bull's-eye for a score of one hundred. Palta beamed, it was just as Tella said: a ridiculous score. 

As Palta was congratulated and embraced by a few of the girls, she made her way to the blackboard and saw that her score averaged out to 72. She had barely passed the first test.

Palta was able to celebrate with a few of her friends for only a short time when Tella took her turn on her dark horse. The test judges had not had the chance to remove Palta's arrows from the targets by the time she got to the starting line. Tella got into a full gallop and again she raised her bow high above her head, and she closed her eyes just as Palta had done earlier. This time around, however, the eyes did not open. Tella simply took the shots. 

The crowd roared and raised their hands into the air, some with exultation at seeing such a deed, and others just in plain shock. Palta jumped into the air to see over the heads of the others, and she saw that Tella had hit every single bull's-eye. Even worse, Tella had pierced Palta's arrows straight down the middle. All of this and her eyes were nearly closed the entire time! What a monster! Palta was extremely furious, but she said nothing, even as Tella came up to her and jumped into her arms.

"Did you see that!?" Tella asked in elation.

Palta frowned and nodded stiffly. "Did you really have to make such a show of it, Tella?"

"Huh? Well what does it matter, little sister? I mean we have both passed the first test right?"

Palta put the calculations through her head. Tella had passed with a score of near 73, just barely above her own.

Just like it always seemed to happen.

Pushing her sister away from her, Palta started towards the living quarters under the guise of needing to rest. Tella accepted the excuse and turned to celebrate with some of the other girls who had passed. Besides, it was the truth; Palta did need to rest. She was tired…sick and tired of being second best.

But Palta took comfort in the fact that tomorrow would be a new day… 

************

The next day also brought the second of the three trials in the Journey to Ascension. Out of thirty girls from the first test, only eight had passed. They gathered in the training grounds a few hours after dawn. As the desert sun rose into the sky and a desert wind began to warm in the air, the invigilators of the second test arrived. They planted a blackboard into the sand, with the names of the competitors written on it in a tournament format. 

With the field thinned to only the best of the girls, this contest bid to have them face off against each other. They were one-on-one fights in which the first girl to hit the ground lost and was immediately eliminated. The fighting arena was a circle twenty feet in diameter, and outlined with white chalk. Getting a girl to break the chalk circle of the ring. Combatants expected to fall to the earth several times during the course of a battle, so this test was designed to bring out the quickest, and the smartest fighters.

Palta keenly inspected the board. She and her sister were at opposite ends of the tournament spectrum. It seemed that the elders were hoping to see Palta and Tella fight. Palta laughed to herself and smiled determinedly. She was looking forward to it too, and she was looking forward to winning.  

Her first match was with a girl named Ende. She was a nice girl with extremely short braids, and she was a notoriously aggressive fighter. Palta nodded to her in the centre of the fighting ring, and Ende did the same. As they stepped back from each other, Ende quickly added, "Good luck _Hylisoba."_

Palta smiled. "You too, stilts." Ende was extremely tall, more than six feet, and some of the girls made fun of her for that. Palta figured that if the girl was going to try to get Palta rattled by insulting her, the most she would get would be another insult back…even if her comeback was kind of lame.

"Contestants, ready?" a judge asked of the two. Palta said nothing, but she got into her fighting stance. She extended her left arm in an inviting pose, and she placed her other hand behind her back. The judge threw her hand down and shouted, "Begin!"

"Here we go!" Ende shouted as she burst forward. Ende was known to be an extremely aggressive fighter, but she was also a smart one. Palta had expected her to wait the fight out and try to use her long legs to trip her. She didn't expect a frontal assault.  

Ende crashed into Palta with a shoulder charge, and Palta took the attack gracefully. She bent at the waist, pushed her right hand against the ground and swung her left leg out, taking Ende's feet out from underneath her, taking her down and finishing the match in less than a minute.

The judge whistled the end of the contest, and Palta pushed herself up to a standing position with her hand. "Uh…you did well, stilts," she said as she helped Ende up to her feet. 

"Are you kidding?" Ende said with a grin. "I got floored. You're just too much, _Hylisoba_."

The rest of the competition went on through the afternoon, and Palta and Tella both ploughed through their next matches. Tella had a relatively tough semi-final with Anesti, who tried a series of extremely fast and furious kicks and sweeps to get Tella off of her feet. Tella evaded the attacks and was able to use a counter throw to take her to the ground. It was the fiercest attack Tella had used so far, but Anesti got through it okay, and even though she didn't win, she qualified for the final test.

Now it was the match Palta had been waiting for. Across from her stood her sister with that same, confident smirk she always wore. Looking at her was like looking into a mirror; Her smooth coffee-coloured skin, angled auburn eyes and her short braided ponytail were exactly like hers. However, the look in her eyes was different than Palta's. It was filled with a dangerous determination that always shook Palta down.   

She wasn't going to be shaken this time. Even the law of averages stated that she had to win against her one of these days…and today would be it. If not today, there was still the final test…

…But she couldn't think like that. Those were the thoughts of a loser.

Tella gave her a little wink as the judge raised her hand into the air. "Contestants ready?" she asked, before swinging her hand down and shouting, "Begin!"

For a minute, Tella and Palta faced each other without moving. They were gauging each other, looking for any weaknesses, and formulating a battle plan. The spectators looked at them expectantly, waiting for the first move with baited breath.

Finally it was Palta who made the first move. Without any indication that she was going to act, she shifted five feet to her left, a whirl of sand billowing at her feet. However, she was stunned to see that directly across of her, an identical whirl of sand was billowing at Tella's feet. She had made the exact same move, at the exact same time.

Palta growled and shifted ten feet to her right, and as she came to a stop she saw that her sister had mimicked her again. She moved back to the centre and walked forward calmly. Tella copied her perfectly and also walked over until she was nearly nose-to-nose with her irritated sister.

"What do you think you are doing?" Palta growled.

Tella smiled and winked again. "You need to relax a bit, little sister," she calmingly. "I just want to see how you plan to do this…"

Palta suddenly made a move to get behind her sister, but Tella saw it and copied the move. They faced each other again and as they did Palta thrust out an arm to her sister's chest. Tella did the same and grabbed Palta's free arm as Palta grabbed hers. They twisted around a bit, connected together as they were before Palta released Tella. Then just as Tella released her, Palta jutted out her arm and struck Tella in the chest, while at the same time leaning back so that Tella's counter thrust wouldn't connect to her.

Tella saw the opening and took it enthusiastically. She shot out at the leaning girl with a high kick to the head, but Palta leaned back even further while flailing her arms to keep balance. Tella then bent down and swept at Palta's feet, and the girl jumped over the attack and landed fully on her feet, completely righted.

Again the twins faced each other, ignoring the sounds of wonder coming out from their audience. Tella grinned once more. "Very sneaky, little sister."

Palta returned her smile, though it was mirthless. "Let's make a deal. I win, you stop calling me 'little sister'."

Tella shrugged. "Deal."

Palta stepped backwards towards the edge of the ring while never taking her eyes off of her twin. Tella copied her movement back to the ring and kept her eyes on her sister. As Palta neared the edge, she stopped, smiled at her sister and took several more steps back.

Tella mimicked her movements, and suddenly came to a premature stop. She wasn't near the edge of the ring any more…she was nearly over it! She was right at the line and she was waving her arms to keep balance and to prevent falling over. Palta had tricked her!

Smiling, Palta burst forward towards her sister during her vulnerable moment. When Palta was able to attack with the super-quick thrust, she pushed her sister back a few inches. Tella didn't account for those inches when she copied Palta's moves. While Palta was back peddling towards the end of the ring, Tella was several inches closer to the edge than she realized, and since she kept her eyes on her sister, she never knew until it was too late.

Palta appeared quickly at Tella's feet, and she bent down and swept her legs out from under her. Tella fell to the ground…and as she did time seemed to slow to a crawl. Tella smiled, struck out with her right hand and snatched Palta by her leather blouse. As she pulled Palta down, she struck her with her left foot, and used the force to further pull Palta until she was side to side with her. Finally they hit the ground with a dull thud, and the Judge threw her hand up into the air.

Palta stared at her sister with a modicum of awe. Tella wasn't just beside her. She was clutching on to Palta for dear life, and her legs were intertwined with hers. To the naked eye it would seem that Tella and Palta were both on the ground, but Palta knew it was not true. Tella was hanging on to her…to _keep_ from hitting the ground. Technically, Tella was still in the air.

The judge knew this too, and she declared Tella the winner by a hairs-breadth. Again the spectators cheered with the enthusiasm of seeing a legend in the making. To them, Tella was simply too amazing. 

She disengaged from her sister and rose to her feet with her hands in the air. Then, with a large grin, she bent and offered Palta a hand. Palta accepted it and rose to her feet.

"Real close, _little sister!_" Tella chided as she threw an arm over Palta's shoulders. "Seriously though, you are too good. You were really thinking when you tried to get me to go over the side."

"Yeah…" Palta said unenthusiastically. "I was…"

But once again, it wasn't enough.

***

That night, as Palta was removing her clothes to get ready for bed, Tella and Anesti returned from a night of partying with some of the other girls. Though no one was allowed to leave the Fortress during the Journey or play around intimately with others, there were still fun times to be had with games and the like. Palta was too tired for any of it though, so she had stayed home and studied on Nabooru the Sage and her accomplishments.

"Palta! I am glad you are still awake," Anesti beamed. "I wanted to congratulate you on second place today. I don't think I had the chance."

Whipping a bed sheet out into the air, Palta turned to her and smiled back. "Thanks. You did pretty well too. You have made it to the finals after all."

"Heh. I do not think the finals matter at this point."

Finished with the making of her bed, Palta blinked as she slipped on a pair of flimsy white underpants. "What do you mean?"

Tella sat down on her messy bed and smoothed out the edges half-heartedly. "I thought you read about it, didn't you little sister? The Vengeful Desert. I hear it is extremely difficult, and only one can win at it after all."

Anesti shuddered and clutched at her long ponytail. "I just hope I can survive it…" she whispered. 

"What are you talking about?" Palta said loudly. "I'm sure you will do fine. You can even win this."

Laughing, Anesti jumped and bounced on her bed a little. "Oh I do not think so. This competition is basically between you two." She said with a giggle.

"Anesti, do not give up. Nothing is predetermined!" As Palta said this, she gave her sister a knowing stare. Tella, still sucking on a piece of fruit, glanced up at her with her eyes and then shrugged.

"Well, if you think so. Anyway, good luck tomorrow Palta. Sweet sands."

"Sweet sands," Palta said warmly. She expected to give Tella the same blessing as the girl tucked into her bed, but she simply turned to her and said:

"Sweet sands, Tella."

"Sweet sands, Anesti," Tella returned through a mouthful of fruit.

So…no luck needed for her perfect 'older sister'…was that it? Palta shook her head and tried to shrug it off. Anesti was a very nice girl and a close friend, and she was sure she meant no disrespect. It didn't matter though. Tomorrow was her final chance to show them all. She was not going to blow it.

Tomorrow, Palta would conquer the Desert.

************

"Ladies, I welcome you to the Vengeful Desert."

Under a pale morning sky, Andala made the announcement; standing at the edge of the Fortress grounds, surrounded by a number of elders and watched by spectators. The Desert was the other, far more dangerous way to the Desert Colossus. Anesti, Palta and Tella stood before a violent maelstrom of dark and stinging sandstorms. The sound it made as the winds whipped and whirled was rough and lilting, like a song filled with malevolence.

"It is said that a Gerudo shaman, shunned by the King she loved so much, created this Desert to forever perform her will." Andala folded her large arms across her chest and grinned balefully. "Her will, of course, was that everyone who entered the Desert would die a horrible death. Of course…. it is only a story, but who really knows?"

She gestured into the mad winds and continued. "This is a dangerous Desert that no one but the Gerudo know of. Even the Hero has never traversed it. It will be days before you find any water, if you're lucky enough to find any at all. Monsters will continually rise from the sands and this sandstorm that you see before you never ends."

Palta and Anesti's faces blanched, but Tella's wore an enthusiastic grin.

"You will be allowed one dagger, a compass and one small bottle of water, and nothing else. Because this test is so dangerous, I suggest that you work together at first," Andala said with a wag of her finger. "But remember, this is still a competition. It is up to you "

Palta gulped, and her eyes narrowed. She agreed wholeheartedly. This was the real test. It was worth more points than the other two put together. Whoever succeeded here automatically triumphed in the Ascension Journey. 

This was a competition. This would be her last real chance to rise above her sister.

"Contestants ready!" Andala shouted, as she raised her hand into the air. Tella reached for Anesti's hand, Anesti took it and reached for Palta with her other hand. Palta glanced at it with aversion, but eventually took it too.

"Begin!"

With the cheer of the crowd blasting behind them, the three girls leapt into the violent winds of the Vengeful Desert.

***

"All'rite listen up you two," Tella started. "Keep your eyes out for water, and keep your ears open. Monsters will probably make noises and they will probably try to sneak up on us. Use your vests to cover your face during the night so that the sandstorm won't clog your airways. Find moisture wherever you can, like in plants…and forget about eating until-"

"Enough!" Palta shouted. She let go of Anesti's hand and continued forward, throwing her sister an annoyed glare. "We're not children, Tella. We know how to survive."

Tella spread her hands and shrugged. "All right. I didn't think it would annoy you so much, little sister." She ignored her twin's fierce gaze and looked to Anesti. "These sands are mystical, so use your Commune to find water and survive fights."

Anesti slowed down a little and looked down shyly. Palta stopped and put her hand on her hip. "What is it?" she asked.

"Umm…" Anesti began, "I can't Commune. I've never undergone the ceremony."

Tella and Palta gaped. For a girl who was born magically gifted like Anesti was, for her not to undergo the ceremony was truly shocking. 

The Sand Communion ceremony was used on girls who were born magically inclined. That accounted for around one percent of the Gerudo population. The last Nabooru wasn't born magically inclined, but the first Nabooru, Nabooru the Sage was. Tella and Palta were also born magically inclined and they had undergone the ceremony at a young age. It was a painful procedure, in which the girl sliced open her right hand and allowed the sands of the desert to heal her. Once it was done, the girl would be able to Commune with enchanted sands, and use it to perform magic. In the sacred texts, it was said that Koume and Kotake first created the Communion Ceremony for their son, Ganondorf.

The confidence Tella and Palta had for this stage in the Journey was mostly because they had the ability to Commune with these bewitched sands. Palta couldn't understand why Anesti would risk life and limb knowingly without that ability.

"It's like you said before, Palta," Anesti explained. "Nothing is predetermined. Just because I cannot Commune, doesn't mean I will lose. It does not even mean I will die."

Tella nodded enthusiastically, but Palta just shrugged. "I admire your tenacity, and I wish you both luck. I'm off now."

Tella stepped forward in shock. "What, you are leaving us already?"

Looking back at her coolly, Palta said, "It is like Mother Andala said, Tella: This is a competition." With that, she leapt forward in an entirely different direction and distanced herself from the others.

***

Two days into Palta's voyage in the Vengeful Desert and she had seen little action. She had kept a steady pace during the day and she slept only for a few hours at night. She hadn't found any water, but she did have an encounter with a couple of Lizardfos that sprung up to ambush her. Palta dispatched the monsters with her daggers and a spell that caused the whirling sands to strike at the monsters at her command. 

Shortly after that battle, Palta used her Commune once again to search for water. To her surprise, sand began to whirl at a location thirty feet ahead of her. She ran towards it gleefully, took out her knife and dug at the spot the sands suggested. After a few feet of digging a fat green leaf peeked out from the grainy earth.

Palta dug with her bare hands and brought the plant out into the air. It was a small flower with four huge fat leaves called Eeisan. She plucked out one of the leaves from the stem and popped it into her mouth, and water immediately burst out of it, filling her mouth with a cool sensation.  She moaned with joy as the liquid trickled down her throat, and she sucked on the leaf for a moment before pulling it out of her chops.

Plucking out the rest of the leaves and putting it into her drinking jar, she continued onward, elated with the fact that she had found water. As she trekked forward, Palta wondered about the others. She hadn't seen Tella or Anesti up to this point, and she wondered whether she was far ahead of them or not…

***

The next day, she found her answer.

Palta's twin came forward from the blazing sands and when she saw her, she sighed and bent over. She looked exhausted, and her features were sunken in from dehydration. She was also covered with a few cuts on her arms and chest. It looked like Tella had had a far tougher turn in the Desert than Palta had. 

"Hey, you are looking well, Palta…" she gasped fitfully.

"Hey. Glad to see you are still alive." Palta continued to walk forward and Tella skipped along tiredly beside her. "Have you seen Anesti?"

Tella shook her head and then suddenly shot out her hand and grabbed Palta's arm. "You know what, you look really good."

Palta looked down at her and said nothing.

"You found water, didn't you?" Tella gasped with a smirk on her face.

Palta glanced to the floor, and continued her silence.

"Palta…I'm really thirsty…?" 

She grunted and forcefully removed Tella's arm from hers. "Sorry. This is a competition," she said as she continued forward.

Tella blinked and laughed incredulously. "You've got to be kidding! Palta!"

Palta steeled herself, ignored her shouts and cries and disappeared into the sands.

***

As another day came, the sands thinned and Palta emerged from the Desert spitting and sputtering. She fell to the ground and savoured the tranquil air and the shining sun. She made it! 

She looked ahead through the wavering air and saw Andala and the elders standing at the entrance of the Desert Colossus. She started forward, and when she was about halfway there, she saw Tella burst forth from the Vengeful Desert. She looked just as bad as she did the other day, but this time she wasn't alone. She was carrying an unconscious Anesti over her shoulders.

Turning back to the finish line, Palta ran at full speed, her arms stiff and angled and swinging at her sides, and her legs bursting forth with long, high strides. She wasn't going to lose, not when she was this close. Even with a body over her shoulders, Tella was running too, but it wouldn't be enough. Palta had only a few meters more…

She finally reached Andala and fell to the ground with a huff. Tella was loping ahead a few meters back, but it was too little too late. Palta was elated.

"Haa…Haa…" she gasped. "_I did it. This time, Tella, you can watch my back!_"

Reaching over and picking Palta up by the arm, Andala dusted some sand from the girl's short braids and said, "Well done."

"I…I made it first," Palta gasped.

As Tella came up with Anesti, Andala nodded and turned to the other too. "Yes, you did. You came first Palta." Andala checked on the unconscious girl and poured water down her throat to bring her around. Anesti sputtered, but she recovered quickly. She stared at the others sheepishly, and Andala patted her on the head.

As the Den Mother rose, she said "Well done," again…before finally facing Tella. "Congratulations Tella, on succeeding the Ascension Journey."

Palta's jaw dropped, and she stared ahead unblinking, not believing what she had just heard.

"When I retire, you will become the next Den Mother. It is a great deal of responsibility, but I am sure that you will continue to live up to our expectations." She went to Tella and placed both hands over her head in blessing. The girl stared ahead stunned, and a large smile began to widen on her face.

Palta stiffly turned to Andala, her mouth still agape. "But…but why?" she cried. "I…I came first."

Andala came to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "We've been using a Commune to watch you girls from the beginning…and we know that if it were not for Tella keeping an eye on you and Anesti throughout the entire time in the Desert, she might have won."

Palta couldn't speak. Her mouth moved but she couldn't form any words. Wasn't this a competition? What is this talk of 'might haves' and 'could haves'?

"Palta, part of being a leader is being able to sacrifice yourself to help your sisters, to be there when they need you…even if they do not know they need you." She turned to the elders and continued with arms spread. "We are all we have. If we need help, who do you believe will come to save us? The Zora? The Gorons? The Hylians? Some of us may be close to them…but let us not kid ourselves. They still believe us to be thieves and amazons and wretches. Not all of them, but that does not matter." Again, she turned to Palta and placed her hands firmly on the young girls thin shoulders. "All we have is each other. The Den Mother must understand this, and she must be able to put her own goals aside for the sake of her sisters."

"But…but why did you say that this was a competition…if we were supposed to help each other?"

Andala smiled. "I lied, because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to test you accurately. You were supposed to know what to do. Tella did, and that is why she has Ascended." She rubbed Palta's here cheerfully and added, "You did quite well Palta. You should be happy with yourself. I'm sure your sister will continue to need your support." Andala finally herded the Gerudo Elders and started towards the regular Desert with Anesti in tow. "We will meet you back at the Fortress and prepare the celebrations. Congratulations again!"

As they left, Tella came up to Palta and threw her hands around her. "Can you absolutely believe it!? It is a dream come true! Don't you think, little sister?"

"Yes…it is," Palta said quietly. When she didn't move after Tella's hug, Tella straightened and looked her in the eye. She saw that Palta was crying, and her eyes widened in shock and concern.

"Palta…"

It was an unbreakable barrier…

"You won…and it isn't because you are favoured by the others," Palta sniffed. "It isn't because you're luckier, or more liked. It isn't because you were born first."

She saw it clearly now.

"Palta…"

Some things were predetermined.

"It's because you are better," Palta squeaked. She squeezed her eyes closed, and new tears created a trench through her sand blasted face. 

"Palta…I…I am not better…"

In every thing they did…. in every endeavour, and in every contest, she came out first.

_*_

"Okay girls," Andala began. "Today is the big day. Today we will start your Commune ceremony." She produced a large curved knife and held out her large hand. She showed the girls a curved scar that ran along her palm, starting at the flesh below her pinkie.

"Wh…what's that?" a six year old Palta said nervously.

_Andala knelt to the ground before a large pit of sand. "This is where I cut myself and gave my hand to the sands. You must do the same. It will hurt, and if you're unsuccessful, you could bleed to death. However, I think you can make it."_

_"You mean you don't know!?" Palta squealed._

_"Give me that knife!" Tella said, jumping up and down. Andala warned the girl about how this was not a toy and the Ceremony not a game. Still, she handed over the knife to the girl. "Watch me, Palta!" she shouted, and she cut the knife deeply into her hand. _

_The silly girl pulled the weapon away quickly and shouted out a strong curse word before plunging her hand into the pit of sand. Palta blanched and nearly fainted at the sight, but Andala just smiled. A minute later Tella brought out her hand, completely healed, by the mystic sands, and she laughed at her new scar._

_Andala turned to Palta. "It is your turn now, girl."_

_As she was given the knife, she began to shake violently. "I…I do not think I can do it…" she cried, tears forming in her eyes._

_Tella came up from behind her and held her at the waist. "Do not worry, little sister!" she said forcefully. "I will not let anything happen to you."_

_"I cannot do it Tella…It is going to hurt."_

_"If I can do it…you can. You are just like me, aren't you?"_

_Palta glanced back at her, looked back to the knife and bit her lip. With a quick swing, she sliced the knife through the side of her hand. Blood immediately spurted out, and Palta cried out in shock and in pain. It poured into the ground as if from a fountain, and she thought it would never stop._

_"Ahhhh! Help me! I'm gonna die!" she cried._

_"Palta! Put it in the sand!"_

_Obeying her sister's command, she ran to the pit of sand and dunked her hand in. She felt the pain sear through her arm and she saw the sand began to take a tint of red. She was still bleeding; the sand wasn't working!_

_Tella was there with her, and she hugged her from behind again. "You can do it, Palta! Stop being a wimp and use the sand!"_

_Palta gritted her teeth in pain and squeezed her eyes shut. A new sensation burned down her arm, and with a start she removed her hand from the sand and saw that it was perfectly healed…except for a curved scar. She breathed a sigh of relief._

_Tella grinned and hugged her again. "See. I told you to always trust big sister."_

_*_

She really was her big sister. In every way, at every time…she always bested her. For years Palta was angry…she always thought it was unfair that Tella get all these accolades. That Tella would be the celebrated one, the 'older one'. Palta knew now why she did. It was because she deserved it. She was just better, and there was nothing Palta couldn't do about it.

 Tella stepped back and looked at her sadly. "I…you know I am always joking about that 'little sister' stuff, don't you?"

She even bested her on her way out of the womb. From minute one…

"Palta?"

There was nothing to be done. It was an unbreakable barrier, and she could never surpass it.

"Congratulations, Tella…" she said quietly. "You deserve everything…"

Tella stepped forward and took her twin into her arms. Above them, the desert sun beamed and spread forth a warming light. Palta stood limply in her sister's arms, finally realizing her position in this life. She realized it, and she hated it…but what choice did she have?

That was just the way it was, deep in the dry lands of the Gerudo.

************

Zelda and Rin have had some success in their ocean travel to the Kingdom of Calatia…

But not in a way that would make a Princess proud…

However, can an encounter with a new group of people, one of which who comes from a race soon to be extinct help the pair complete their journey?

What will find them on the other side?

Dangerous enemies?

Long lost friends?

**Next Chapter:**

**The Legend of Zelda: Her Story**

**Pirates!! And the Blue Eyed Devil**

It's going to be another long one…I'm gonna have a lot of stuff happen in that chapter. I might split it in half…I don't know. In any case, I hope you enjoyed this look into the Gerudo…cause I've got big plans for them for the future. Please review if you read. Until next time – (o'.')o


	14. Pirates! And the Blue Eyed Devil

**The Legend of Zelda: Her Story**

**Chapter 12: Pirates!! And the Blue Eyed Devil.**

**By: (o'.')o – The Kirby Kid**

**Disclaimer:**

The Legend of Zelda is Copyright Nintendo of Japan/America.

**Author's Notes:**

Hey. Another long one coming up, so I hope you stay with me :). Thanks to you guys who reviewed. You know who you are. ;). 

On another note…I know my last chapter, the **Interlude 1** was a little out of place. Palta and Tella are going to end up being major players in this story…and I wanted you to get a piece of what motivates them. I'm very happy if you enjoyed it. And don't hate Tella…she's a nice person and loves her sister. She's just obviously a little insensitive…. 

….And a slut. But anyway…

Did I just say that? o_O. Oy…. Sorry. Didn't mean to offend anyone.

**P.S.:** My dates don't really mean anything, I haven't gone through them yet. Let's just say that this entire storyline of fan fictions take place about 2500 years after the Triforce was left on Hyrule by the Goddesses…and let's say it takes place about 500 years after the Imprisoning War. (Ocarina of Time.) It's all rough but that's about it.

Enjoy! And please please please review if you read this. I'm trying my best! Later!

-(o'.')o

************

"I know it's a week later, but I still must say how glad I am to be out of that dreadful kingdom," a large, colourfully dressed woman cowed loudly.

A slimmer woman in a sapphire blue dress nodded and brought a small porcelain cup of tea to her lips. "Oh yes, I must agree."

"_Die…_" Zelda thought to them.

The ladies laughed, and the large one spoke again. "Can you believe that ninny husband of mine, thinking I could use a holiday in a place like that?"

"I know! If it's not 'Goddess this' and 'Goddess that', it's war with their mongrel races. How utterly pathetic, if their Queen wasn't so beautiful and their country so powerful I wouldn't think of them as anything at all.

"_Please die…_" Zelda thought again.

"Beautiful? Please. She's a short and skinny ghost, that woman is. I don't know why they let that girl run the Kingdom. I can't imagine what she has to face with those rock people and…fish people? And those desert thieves! They stole one of my favourite brooches. It was priceless!"

The woman in blue waved her hand dismissively. "You've got several of those brooches, Annemette."

"That's not the point! Why in the world do they allow those dark faced jackals to run around like that? It's abhorrent."

"_Why won't you die already?_" 

"Now, now Annemette…" The woman in blue chided.

"_If you don't die this very second…_"

"Princess?" Rin whispered. Zelda turned her scowl towards him, and he leaned away a bit. "You…were just wishing those women death, were you?"

Zelda blinked, and then turned away with a huff. "Well some people deserve that wish…if you can call _them_ 'people'."

"Ku!" Moto said in agreement from beneath her blouse.

The Princess and her pet were upset, and they had good reason to be. They had been stowed away on this cruise ship for the past week. Zelda didn't want to use a lot of magic for fear that she'd alert her mother or Impa…and she didn't want them to know what she was up to until later. So she cast Glamours around her and Rin to make them appear as parts of the ship: pipes and barrels and whatnot. Even though the Glamour could even hide their voices, the disguise was very fragile, and any movement threatened to unravel it. So they decided to find spots on the ship and stay there.

At first they thought about staying below deck. However, the passageways under the ship were cramped and they were at a high risk of being discovered, especially when Rin broke disguise to get Zelda and Moto food. So they stayed on the deck, moving to various places depending on the concentration of nobles and sailors. 

They were hungry, they were cramped, and they were sick and tired of listening to these idiots prattle on and disparage Hyrule.

A slight smile curled on Rin's lips and as he glanced away he said, "Surely you've dealt with nobles and the like before, princess?"

Zelda huffed again and looked straight ahead irritated. "The nobles I've met in Hyrule are nowhere near this crude, and even the ones I've met overseas aren't this bad. Shades, even the ones that were at least had the decency to keep their foul thoughts to themselves." She bunched her knees up to her chest and buried her head in her knees. "These people are horrible. They're ludicrously obtuse, their prejudice amazes me and they practically _bathe _in perfume." She gritted her teeth and added, "If you ask me, they're in serious need of a medicinal kick to the head."

Rin spread his hands. "You'll get no argument from me," he said to placate her.

Sighing again, Zelda tried to calm down and focus on her anger. She was upset for a lot of reasons. She was cramped, hungry, thirsty, _and smelly_. What she wouldn't give for a bath at that moment. Zelda closed her eyes and could almost feel the heat of the water cleansing her body. But that wouldn't be…and it was mostly her fault. She was the one who suggested they stow away on this ship. Little did she know that it was a cruise ship full of snobbish nobles who were taking the long way back to Calatia. One week had passed, and there was another week to go.

"_I don't know if I can do this much longer,"_ she whispered to no one.

Rin turned to her, but said nothing. He knew how she felt, but there was nothing he could do about it. They said few words ever since starting this uneasy journey, and it didn't look like they'd be able to find comfort or solace in each other during bad times.

So Zelda leaned back and yielded to the rocking of the large ship to the troubled seas. There was nothing to do but sit back and wait, though she wished there was something more that she could do…

***

A wise person once said, "Be careful what you wish for."

It happened as the moon reached its highest point during that cool night. Zelda was rocked awake by a large tremor caused by a massive blast. She braced herself and looked at Rin with distress and concern. He looked back at her, and then at the sailors and passengers that were running around frantically. Lines of rope began to whip up from the sea and to the rails of the ship. Was this an attack? Were they being boarded?

"We have to move!" Zelda hissed. Before Rin could answer, she dissolved the Glamour and started running. With a few quick steps, they reached a wall that surrounded a doorway to the below decks, and flattened against it. Zelda threw the Glamour back into place before anyone was the wiser. From this vantage point they could clearly see what was happening.

Zelda could see that there was another ship to the…right of cruise vessel. (She had no idea, which was port and which was starboard or the bow, or any nautical jargon  like that.) There were a few men on the ship wielding weapons she recognized as guns…like the ones her uncle Evit used. These guns, however, had much longer barrels to them, and they were pointed square into the population of nobles and sailors that were congregating on the ship. There were also cannons pointed right at them. The ship had a large mast and the sail was black with the symbol of a skull and swords on it. They were obviously pirates.

People were being horded to one spot by pirates that had boarded the ship. As the nobles stood with their hands up in the air, one pirate stood ahead of them, one more defiant than the others. He was tall and strapping man, with long scraggly black hair and sharp blue eyes. He wore a red leather shirt, dark pants and a long dark overcoat, and a shiny cutlass was strapped to his belt at the side.

"Where's the Captain boys?" the man asked boisterously. "I've got to tell him about what a shoddy ship he's got under his command. Do you know we've been tailing you for days? Days! And you've never suspected. I mean I've got to say that's really sad. Might as well draw a target on your hull."

"What do you want from me!" a large woman in red screeched. Zelda recognized the voice as the one belonging to the irritating noble called Annemette.

Zelda thought that the man, possibly the pirate captain, would respond. Instead a young woman walked up to his side and stared at the woman with hard eyes. This lady was dark-skinned and quite pretty, with hair put in small braids that reached the back of her neck, which had a dark ram-head necklace clasped around it.. She also wore a dark overcoat, blue pants that fell to her shins and a white frilly blouse. A slight smile curled on the woman's lips.

"What we want, my lady, is what we all want as we are motivated by the desires of our animal nature…and of course, you know all to well what that is." The woman said lightly, before stepping forward again. "That is, naturally, what someone else possesses, controls, owns or just plain wants to keep for themselves. More accurately, my lady, it's what _you_ have."

"Get away from me you-" but before Mrs. Annemette could get another word out, the black woman raised a finger in the air to interrupt her.

"Oh, and for the record, is it just the Gerudo, or do you consider or do you consider all of us 'dark faces' abhorrent?"

Mrs. Annemette gasped, and her friend's hands flew to her mouth in alarm. "You…you were listening to us?"

"All of you, actually." The pirate captain said jovially. "We had to see if your captain and crew had spotted us and if they planned on retaliating. You couldn't imagine the amount of goods we have on you fun, _fun _people." He placed his hands on his hips, and he said with a wink, "And by fun…I mean rich and stupid."

Mrs. Annemette's faced blackened with rage. "HOW DARE-"

Before she could go on, pirate woman interrupted her again, this time with a small pistol to her face. The pistol was silver, with a short barrel engraved with the image of a flower on it. Zelda gathered that she kept it hidden under her coat…but she still couldn't believe how fast the gun appeared in her hand. Guns were a relatively new technology in Hyrule, but it seemed the Calatians had been using them for quite a while.

"I want your brooch," the pirate woman said prettily. "It's a very nice brooch."

"Don't forget priceless, Miss Abe," the captain quickly added.

Mrs. Annemette looked like she was about to faint. Part of Zelda wanted to stop this crime from happening. The rest of her…the other 99%, smiled at the woman's comeuppance with glee.

"Then again, I'd rather sell it. Better yet, I'll give it away. I'm sure this'll look lovely on some Calatian street urchin."

Mrs. Annemette finally did faint.

The pirate captain shrugged lazily and faced the crowd once more. "All right, looks like we've assembled the crew. Hello there, fellow Captain. Nice group of men you have here. A little on the oblivious side, but it's hard to find good help nowadays. Yeah I hear that. Now, here's what's gonna happen." He brought over another pirate; a tall lanky man with a bandanna wrapped around his head and slung his arm over his shoulder. "This here is Tenmen; good guy, really funny. He's gonna entertain you with a few jokes, maybe a magic trick here and there…and _you're_ gonna sit their and love it. In the meantime, the rest of my people will strip you and your ship of everything and anything even remotely valuable. Don't worry, we'll leave you with just enough supplies that'll take you back to Hyrule, so that you can get your refund and spread the awesome and fantastic tales of the famous **Black Birds of Calatia**. Good sirs and madams please don't look at me like that. Like my beautiful first officer said, taking advantage of dimwits like you who put yourselves on ineptly rubbish ships like this is in our nature. Just like it's in your nature to put yourself on a ineptly rubbish ship like this and get robbed by beautiful people like us."

Zelda blinked. Goddess that man could talk…

It was just like the pirate captain said, and after about a half-hour, they had stripped the cruise ship of everything useful. Finally they finished off and with a final 'thank you' flourish, they made their way back to their craft.

"Princess, let's go!"

Zelda whipped her head at Rin and glowered. "What, are you joking?"

"You heard the man, Princess. This ship is going to be forced back to Hyrule. They've just taken a huge bounty, and they're probably going to head back home…and home is probably Calatia. Their ship is much faster than this one. This is an opportunity we can't pass up."

Biting her lip and glancing to the floor, Zelda thought about this. She knew Rin was right…but some doubt was gnawing at her. "How are we going to get there with all of this ruckus?"

"Can't you use your teleportation spell?"

She looked at him ludicrously and shook her head. "Farore's Wind? I might as well wave a giant banner to the rest of the magical people in Hyrule saying 'HERE I AM! COME AND GET ME!' That's way too much magic. We'll be detected for sure, and you'll be back on that gurney." She turned to the rails and saw the pirate ship retract some of its cables and make ready for the final departure. "Or the gallows…"

Rin shook his head. "I don't think so. I think you can disguise the spell somehow… If anyone can, you can. I'm sure of it!"

"It's not that easy!" Zelda reiterated. It really wasn't. Farore's Wind was an inherited spell. That is, she didn't have to learn it…it came naturally to her at a certain age. Inherited spells were notoriously difficult to manipulate. In fact, it was almost impossible to manipulate or even see the weaves of an inherited spell…

But maybe she didn't have to.

Rin watched as Zelda took in a large breath, and as she slowly released it, she started weaving her Wisdom. It snaked out of her being and curled into a large sphere that enveloped them, and as it shimmered and coiled about she pointed her arm towards the pirate ship and created another such sphere there, behind a large cabin near the end of the ship.

"What are you…?"

"Quiet!" Zelda hissed. She tied off the ends of her weaves and watched the ripple of the spell and waited for any indication that she had been detected. When none came she turned to Rin. "Hopefully these spheres will mute Farore's Wind when I cast it. Let's hope it works." 

She offered her hand to Rin, who took it and was immediately taken away with the power of the spell. There was a sudden and fierce rush of wind, and then they were aboard the pirate ship. The spheres she created expanded for a brief moment, and then caved into themselves with a pop. Zelda put her back to the cabin wall and quickly created another Glamour, and disguised them as supply barrels. When she was finished, the princess slid to the ground and started to pant heavily.

Looking at her with wonderment and respect, Rin smiled and said to her, "Well done. You're more skilled than I could have imagined."

Zelda didn't respond. She was grateful from the compliment, but she didn't know how to take it from him.

***

A little more than an hour had passed since they stowed away on the pirate ship, and although no one was the wiser, Zelda was getting more and more uncomfortable. They hadn't moved at all since they'd gotten aboard, and those nasty cramps were coming back. She watched as pirates in all shapes and colours walked by them unknowingly. This crew was very diverse, and she figured it probably helped towards their efficiency. The way they robbed that cruise ship smacked of professionalism.

Then, as the moon began to make it's final arc through the dark sky, another pirate walked by them, and when Zelda finally noticed she gave a start. It was a boy of probably thirteen years of age. She was only looking at his back, but she could see he had blonde hair that waved from the side of his head to his neck. That wasn't the most alarming part. It was his clothes: brown boots, and most noticeably, a green tunic and a long green toque covering his head. 

Zelda heard the boy sniff a couple of times, and as she stared, she saw the boy turn and look straight at them. Zelda and Rin froze and waited for the cry for help with frozen hearts, but the boy continued to glance around. Maybe he wasn't looking at them…just at the disguise. Now that she could see the boy's face, Zelda saw that it was a clear one marred only with dark bags under his eyes. That coupled with the constant sniffling made it seem to her like the kid was ill.

The boy turned and then turned back to Zelda, looking her directly in the eye. A small smile formed on his lips, and a chill ran down Zelda's spine. He saw her. How was that possible? She saw Rin's hand flash with small flames. He was getting ready to strike.

"O Captain my Captain!?" The boy shouted. "*Sniff* Come down here a moment!"

"_Oh no…_" Zelda gasped. Rin started to inch his way up against the wall. 

The captain arrived with the black woman walking beside him. They stopped right in front of the boy, their backs to Zelda and Rin.

"What's going on, Mighty?" the captain asked.

The boy smiled and coughed slightly. "A trick, for your consideration. You see, now you don't see them." He brought up his right arm and snapped his fingers. 

Zelda's Glamour shattered and recoiled back into her with such a force that her back slammed into wall.

"*Sniff* And now you do."

The captain and his first officer stared in shock at two stowaways, and Rin quickly took advantage of their pause. He started forward, Halef still not present in his hand. Zelda could only think he'd use it at the final second. He reached for the captain…

…And there was this sudden ball of dark light flashing in his face. Rin covered his eyes instinctively, and then felt a boot to his chest that knocked him to the ground. When he tried to get up he was slammed back to the ground by that same boot, and a pistol was shoved into his face. The first officer had a firearm in both hands and they were pointed at Rin and Zelda.

"Good work Miss Abe," the captain said with a wink. "But you know, I could have taken care of that."

"Of course, but it's my job to make sure you don't have to." She never took her eyes off of her targets. "On your knees, both of you. Hands behind your head."

Rin and Zelda reluctantly did as they were told. Zelda saw the dark ball of light float beside the boy's head. A fairy, she suddenly realized, though it was like no fairy she'd seen before. That boy was Kokiri.

The captain also looked at them with a smile. "And Mighty, tell Sartos 'good job'."

Coughing and sniffling, the boy turned to the dark ball of light and said, "Hey, Sartos…good job."

The fairy harrumphed grumpily.

Finally the captain regarded Zelda and Rin, and that smile never left his face. "I am Captain Geza of the Blackbird. This is my first officer, Miss Abebi and these fellows are my navigators, Mitos and Sartos."

"Yo," said the Kokiri with a light cough.

Geza nodded and continued with his ever-present smirk. "Now, I suppose the real question is, who the hell are you two, and what are you doing on my ship?"

With a tiny gulp, Zelda lowered her head and nervously began to talk, but to her surprise it was Rin who began with the explanation. "My name is Fala. This is my…. my…"

Zelda watched him stammer in a panic and she knew she had to say something. "I-It's okay Fala. You can say it. I'm your…" she gulped again. "I'm your fiancée!" she blurted out.

Abebi and Geza glanced at each other, before returning their gazes back to the stowaways. "Fiancée?" Abebi sceptically.

Zelda nodded her head with a little too much enthusiasm. "It's true! It is!"

"Then where's your ring?"

Zelda blinked and started to bring her hand down to confirm that she wasn't wearing a ring, but a couple of clicks from Abebi's pistols brought it back to the top of her head quickly. "I…I…"

"She sold it," Rin said calmly. "We were going to take a passenger ship to Calatia, but our tickets were stolen. We stowed aboard that cruise ship when you robbed it…then we stowed aboard here."

"Bad bit of luck you've got going for you sport," the Captain announced boisterously. By then a small crowd of pirates began to congregate at the scene. "But call me a Poe's uncle…I just don't believe that you too could be planning on getting married."

Rin laughed derisively and gave Geza a hard stare. "That's what her parents thought. She, a daughter of a wealthy Hylian noble, a family so old and distinguished that magical blood still appears within a few generations…with a grubby half-Gerudo boy. They thought that, and they tried to keep us apart, but it's not going to happen. We're in love, and we're going to make a new life for us in Calatia, no matter what anyone thinks." He glanced over at Zelda with a smile on his face. "Right, Itali?"

Zelda blinked at him in admiration. He did it perfectly, just as they had rehearsed. "You're right, Fala." The exchange caused Geza and Abebi's look to soften a bit. In fact they almost looked guilty. It was working….

"It took more than watered down magical blood to cast a Glamour like that one, O Captain my Captain." The Kokiri boy spoke up all of a sudden.

Geza glanced at him and then back at Zelda. "You recognize her, Mighty?"

The kid shook his head and coughed again. "*Sniff* No… Can't say I do."

Geza sighed loudly and drooped his broad shoulders. "Man! Of all the ships you guys have to escape on. I feel for you kids, I really do. But I can't have stowaways turn this into some sort of passenger operation. I've got a reputation to uphold."

Mitos raised his hand quickly, and the Captain and his first officer took notice. "Captain, *sniff* I think before we do anything rash we should *cough cough* we should make use of the brig."

The kid coughed and sniffled for a little longer before the Captain replied, "You've got an idea, Mighty?"

" *cough* I might."

"Excellent. Miss Abe, would you be so kind as to take a couple of men and escort these fine young lovers to our brig. I'm sure they've been itching for a little private time. And of course, who am I to stand in the face of true love?"

"No one at all, Captain," Abebi laughed. "No one at all. Let's go kids." She waved her guns upward, and Rin and Zelda rose obediently to their feet. They were surrounded by a small group of pirates, and they were led below decks.

************

"That boy…he's strange," Rin said a few minutes later. They were now locked up in a large cell. There were no portholes or windows, just bars and a door. However the place was rather clean for a jail cell.  Zelda sat on one end of the long bench that ran along the side of the cell, and Rin sat on the other end. Zelda was stroking Moto across the head, lost in thought when Rin suddenly spoke out.

"He is Kokiri," she said absently.

"Kokiri?"

Zelda realized that Rin might not know who or what they were. She knew, only because Invincible had gotten her interested in the history of the fairy-folk. Invincible had lived with them for a time when he was a born, and he was said to be one of the few living experts on the Kokiri.

Well…was…

"They lived in an enchanted woods a few miles north of the Castle. They were basically ageless…they lived forever by reincarnating themselves every few hundred years or so. That way they could receive the joy and playfulness of youth because they were reborn into it." She started to say more, but Rin held up his hand.

"I…I'm sorry, Itali…you're confusing me." He used her fake name because of the concern that the pirates were somehow monitoring their conversation. They live forever but they reincarnate themselves?"

Zelda shrugged. "That's what I was told. See they don't age. They're born as babies out of the earth and raised by a great Demi-God known as the Deku Tree. Then when they reach a certain age…12 or so I think…they stop aging. Then after another set of years, they disappear and start the process all over again." She released Moto from her hold and as he sprung to the ground, she spread her fingers apart and began to gesture about with them. She pointed at her index finger. "For instance, we know that there is a Kokiri named Saria. She's a sage now, and she's still residing somewhere as a Sage. However there's another Saria, one that was 'reborn' a long time later. She was Li…Invincible's friend, and now she's living in Hirocco. You understand now?"

Rin nodded uncomfortably, not fancying how she mentioned the Hero's name. "And what about that black ball of light? Do they all have those?"

"I think that was a fairy, and yes they did. Auntie Saria had a fairy named Esea. She helped us out when we were trapped in the Dark World. But I've never seen a fairy like that before. It seemed…dangerous."

There was a long moment of silence. Then, hesitantly, Rin spoke again. "You speak of them in past tense…"

Zelda bent over, clapped her hands, and watched as Moto bound back into them. "Invincible told me that they were dying. Basically a disease was running around and killing the forest…so the reincarnation process was stopped. Their only option was to stay and die and never come back, or to leave the forest, grow up and hopefully marry and leave a legacy…like Auntie Saria." She closed her eyes, and as she imagined that bright and colourful forest melting and wilting away, she felt a profound sense of sadness. "I wonder how many of them are left now?"

"Good question. *cough cough*."

Rin and Zelda shot foward. Outside of their cage were the boy Mitos, and his fairy. They had not heard him approach.

" *Cough* your information on Kokiri needs a little updating though. But how're you *sniff* enjoying your cell? A little grey…but then it's better than green, I suppose…"

Rin shot out of his seat and ran towards the jail bars. "Just what are you-"

"Silence!" the fairy blasted, as he shot out in front of Rin with such speed that it caused him to come to a startled stop and fall to his rear end. Zelda got a good look at the fairy now. It had short dark hair and purple eyes, it wore a dark robe and its wings were extremely strange. They didn't look like the large butterfly wings fairies had. They looked more like wings; platinum shiny feathered wings. It didn't flap them like a bird when it moved. In fact, it constantly had its arms crossed, and its back was straight. It looked down on them like they were insects.

Rin growled and shot the fairy a bitter smile. "Why don't you come here and say that?" he taunted. 

"I will crush you." The fairy snarled in return.

The Kokiri raised his hands and tried to placate the tiny creature. "Now now," he said. "No need to get testy, Sartos…" He turned to Zelda and coughed out a smile. "You have to forgive Sartos. He's still getting used to…*sniff* people. It's hard to trust people when you've lived as we lived for as long as we did…"

Zelda rose to her feet and faced the boy evenly. "Do you mean that Kokiri's forest?"

"Mmm…. close. *cough cough*"

"Enough," Rin said roughly. "Stop being so secretive already and tell us-"

Again, the fairy blasted in front of him and burned his evil light. "Hold your tongue, lest I pull it out for you," he said with a low voice.

Rin's smile was full of contempt. "Are you moulting, little fellah? Maybe I need to clip your wings."

"You know…*sniff*" the Kokiri started, "You show a great deal of restraint for someone with powerful magic and their right hand."

Rin stared at him, as did Zelda  "Mitos…is it?" she began carefully. "You can see magic?"

The boy nodded and ran a finger beneath his nose. "And I can cancel it. It's about all I can do really, at least individually. That was how I was able to break your little disguise before."

"Are you a Kokiri? Was the Kokiri Forest the place you were talking about a second ago?"

Mitos coughed a little more before clearing his throat. "Close and close again. *sniff* See the place I'm talking about is the Forbidden Woods inside the Kokiri Forest." He leaned closer into the bars and gave them a lazy smile. "I am a Lost Kid."

Zelda stared at him for a moment, and as she breathed the air came uneasily into her lungs. "Lost Kid?" she gasped in astonishment.

"…Itali? Lost Kid?"

"Lost Kids are Kokiri that got lost in the Forbidden Woods. They…they become shrivelled up and evil and their fairies either leave them or die off. At least that's what Invinci-"

"Itali!" Rin hissed.

Mitos waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. *Sniff* I didn't believe that a person who held as much magic in her body as she did could be anyone else but the princess of Hyrule. You certainly fit the general description…the hair's a bit off though. Am I right?"

Zelda looked to the ground and even as she tried to prevent it a blush spread over her nose and cheeks. Rin stared up at the Kokiri angrily. "If you knew who she was then why did you lie to your Captain earlier?" Mitos laughed.

"That, my dark friend, is for me to know and you to find out. *cough cough* Ermm. I may have been out of the loop for long long while, but some things never change."

"So…so you were lost in the Forbidden Woods and now you're free. How long were you there?"

Mitos coughed into his hand, swallowed and sighed. "Uh...what year is it?"

"2563 After Triforce."

The Kokiri brought up his hand and started ticking off his fingers. "That'd make it what… *sniff* five hundred years? Give or take a century."

***

_See, I remember Saria, the one you call the Sage because I used to know her. Kinda tall, green hair with a bit of a bob to it? So sweet she hurts your teeth? Yeah, basically the same Saria that was reborn a few times later after this one became a Sage. She probably doesn't remember me though. See, everyone thinks I died…or became a Lost Kid._

_It's that stupid ball's fault. I just had to bounce it around like an idiot. I just had to follow it into the Woods when it bounced there. '_Why not_?', I told myself. '_I mean, Saria went into those Woods to get to that Sacred Meadow all the time'_. What I didn't know at the time was that Saria had the magic to survive the Woods, and she was one of the few Kokiri that did. That jackass Mido was another._

_So I enter the woods, chase my ball around through a couple of tunnels and grab it… and then I turn around and head back the exact same way I came. No problem right? Except that the exact same way I came isn't the same anymore. Then I'm like '_Oh crap…I'm Lost._'_

_Should have listened to you, Sartos. You always were the voice of reason."_

***

Zelda nodded in understanding. It was exactly how Invincible had told her some become Lost Kids. "So…how did you survive?"

Mitos shrugged with a bit of apathy and cleared his throat. "*sniff sniff* Who knows? A bit of luck…a bit of Wisdom, a few learned skills here and there. Maybe we did become Lost Kids somehow. Sartos certainly changed. He *sniff* grew more powerful, like you see here, and I've learned to channel some of that power. There are a lot of nasty things in the Forbidden Woods…*cough* nastier than the constant chanting and the masked monsters you hear about in story."

"So then, how did you get out?" Rin said from his position on the floor.

"One day the curse of the Forbidden Woods just…took off, and I was able to find my way back. I went back into the village, but there was only a few Kokiri left. So I went over to the Deku Tree, said a few 'hi how's it been's…give me the gossip of the last half-millennia'…you know, the usual. He starts bawling about how I finally came back and by the time I calmed him down, he told me what was going on." Mitos coughed, checked down the hallway for any pirates, and continued. "At first he thought the Forest was dying…but now he believes that it was changing somehow. It and the Kokiri were becoming different. He said that those who didn't want to undergo the change were to leave and become elves."

"Oh, is that's what you are?" Rin said under his breath. This brought another angry flash from the fairy.

"Allow me to teach this ignorant pup a lesson!" it asked of Mitos in fury. 

"Dekez…relax Sartos," Mitos chided. "Anyway, long story short, I chose to live out here with you mortals. *Cough* I thought it couldn't be much worse than the Woods. I found these pirates, became part of the crew and that's it." He glanced into the hallway again. "Well…that's about enough for now. *Sniff* In a few moments the Captain will come down here and out of the kindness of his heart, *cough*, he'll offer to take you to Calatia in exchange for a little labour. It's a good deal, I suggest you take it." He then nodded to Sartos, who followed him out of the cell.

Zelda walked up to the bars and gripped them tightly as she called out to him. "Wait! What is all of this? Why are you helping us?"

"Why not?" Mitos said without turning back.

"I can help you with whatever's ailing you, Mitos," Zelda called. "A way to thank you for talking to the Captain about us?"

Mitos continued down the dark hallway, and he raised his hand into the air. "No need to worry. I'm not sick, *sniff* I'm just allergic." He turned back to her and winked. "…To everything."

************

When the option came for Zelda to help with the cooking, Zelda leapt at it with glee. She loved to cook, even though some people out there thought she needed some help at it. She was more than a little disillusioned when her job ended up sitting on the deck of the ship, brushing and cleaning clams. At least she got a better job than Rin, who was naturally swabbing the deck.

Zelda took another clam out of the bucket, dunked it into a tub of water and began to clean it with the brush when the first officer sat up beside her.

"Itali, is it?" she asked. 

"Miss. Abebi. How are you?"

She laughed and clasped her hands together. "So polite. You're unlike any noble I've met in Calatia."

Zelda shrugged. "Maybe you haven't been meeting the right ones." She dunked the clam in water again and then placed it in the new pile. "So, how long have you been serving on this ship?"

"…About ten years, since the Captain started this Pirate Ship. I was one of the original crewmembers."

"Oh…" Zelda stuttered, unsure of what else to say. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

Lovely choice of words, considering her armament. "Why do you…um…steal, from other people?" Zelda said as she concentrated on brushing. "That's wrong, umm, isn't it?"

Abebi glanced at her and then she looked up into the sky. "Itali…let me tell you a story. It's one you've probably heard before, but it's one of my favourites. In a small corner of a wood, there was a poisonous Tektite. This Tektite wanted to cross the river to get back home, but this one couldn't swim. Then, up from the waters came an Octorock. The Tektite called out to it, 'Hey friend, can you carry me across this river?' The Octorock was sceptical and he responded, 'No, if I let you on my back you'll bite and kill me.' 'No I won't,' the Tektite pleaded, 'if I do that, then I'll drown and we'll both die.' The Octorock thought that made a lot of sense, so he let the Tektite ride on his back. But halfway down the river, the Tektite did bite him. As the poison ran through his body and he and the Tektite both sank into the water, the Octorock asked, 'Why did you do that? Now we'll both die.' To which the Tektite responded, 'I couldn't help it. Biting is in my nature.'"

Zelda stopped brushing for a moment and considered the story as Abebi spoke on. "What we do, Itali…is what we're supposed to do. That's the nature of us pirates. We try to make the best of it, knowing that there's a place for us in this world, just like there's a place for biting Tektites. Do you understand now, Itali?"

A place for everything, and everything in its place. "I…I guess…" Zelda said hesitantly. She was thinking about many things at that moment, not the least of which was Invincible… What was his place? Was it to die like he did?

"Anyway, we're a little different than what the stereotype is. Captain Geza is an honourable man. He's got a good heart and he's always helping strangers out…" Abebi smiled and glanced away down the deck. Zelda followed her gaze and saw Rin fighting with Geza again. It had been the same argument all day:

Rin: "Why the hell do you want me to clean these decks when they're always getting messed up again? If it's not bird shit it's you and your crew throwing junk around!"

Captain Geza: "*Spittoie* That sounds like a swabbie's problem, not mine. Don't blame me, kid, blame nature."

Rin: "Sonofa…"

Zelda giggled and looked at Abebi. The way the first officer was looking at Geza…Zelda recognized that look. She had it herself once. "You're in love with him, aren't you?" she whispered.

Abebi abruptly rose and clenched her fists to her sides. "Don't be ridiculous!" she said aloud. A lot more quietly she said, "And don't you tell anyone…"

"It's fairly obvious," Zelda mentioned. "Why don't you tell him?"

Abebi closed her eyes and lowered her head. "I'm not confirming anything. All I can say is that he is my Captain, and I am his first officer. There are some barriers that can't be broken."

"I don't believe that for a moment."

With a small laugh, Abebi turned and began to walk away. "It doesn't matter what you think, now does it?"

Zelda watched her walk away, and she began to think again. "_There is no unbreakable barrier…"_ she mused, but she wasn't as convinced as she was a moment ago. With these feelings in her mind, she took another clam from the bucket and dunked it into the water to clean.

************

It took only one more day of sailing for the ship to reach the shores of Calatia. Zelda and a reluctant Rin thanked the pirates profusely for their help in getting them to their destination.

"No problem, you guys did good work," the captain responded. "And besides, it's nice to break the rules every once in a while. Now, this is the port town Hamlet. You'll find a lot of Haikeners there, since this town was part of the Haiken Dukedom before it was divided. They're a little like you Hylians so you should fit in with no problem. Watch out for the Blue-eyed Devil, though." 

"Blue-eyed Devil?" Zelda asked.

Abebi crossed her arms across her chest. "He's an assassin that is rumoured to frequent these parts. He's got blue eyes and he wears green…that's all people know of him. I'd steer clear."

Zelda's eyes widened. "_Blue eyes? Green clothes?_" Before she could think more on this, she heard a hard whisper directed at her. She turned and saw Mitos gesturing for her to come over to him, so she did.

"I have something for you," he sniffled. He reached underneath his toque, pulled out two small bells that were tied together and pressed them into Zelda's hands. "Use it, and you might…_might_ get a response from us. It's good for one favor and one favor only."

Zelda was very surprised. She clutched the bells and looked at the Kokiri with new respect. "Why?"

"Must you always look the gift horse in the mouth, child?" Sartos asked forebodingly. "Just accept the gift and move on. It's more than I would have given you."

Once again Mitos waved his hands at the dark fairy. "*cough* Come on, Sartos, you've got to learn to take it easy." He said with a soothing smile.

************

He watched the two disembark the ship and then head into the crowded Hamlet's marketplace. As he did, he recalled the conversation he had earlier with the master.

***

_"It is true, my lady. I've located them. They're on a ship heading this way, and they'll arrive in a matter of hours. It's just as you predicted, he brought the princess here."_

_The woman that looked back at him through the waters of the pond was lying lazily on a long and luxurious sofa.  She looked around twenty though she was quite a few years older, and she had an exotic beauty to her. The sheer blue gown she wore left little to the imagination, and she was playing around with a few strands of long silver hair. "Of course. My visions are never wrong. Though I'm still not sure the purpose of having the Princess here."_

_He snapped at his chains and gritted his teeth. "Forgive my impertinence, oh Lady of the Waters, but isn't it obvious? You've brought the Princess here to die."_

_She looked at him with a glare that could shred steel. "Do not assume anything to be obvious. I am the one given the visions, not you."_

_"Think about it! We've killed their Prince. We've killed their Hero. Killing their Princess here will be the final blow. Their Queen will lose heart, and she will leave nothing to defend their pitiful state. They'll be ours for the taking. Isn't this the goal we've been reaching for, my lady?"_

_The woman sighed and turned away. "The goal is much, much larger than your small mind could ever comprehend." Glancing at him one more time she added, "Do not do anything without further instruction from me." With that, her image faded from the surface of the water._

***

He watched them from the shadows of the trees, so vulnerable, such perfect targets. He had been waiting for days, and he would wait no longer. Whatever the reason for the Princess being here virtually unprotected…it had to result in her death, sooner or later.

The Lady might have been a prophet, but he was a killer. There would be no more denial of his nature.

He pulled out his chain, licked it longfully, and watched as his prey continued through the marketplace.

************

Zelda clutched Moto close to her breast. She'd never been in such a crowded place before, and she was afraid people would recognize her from this close. Thankfully, no one did. It sure was different though; all of these sights and smells. Zelda also had a feeling of deep loneliness. Gone were the constant presence of Knights and guards. She'd never felt so exposed before. She flexed her right hand, hoping that Gram would respond to her when she needed, and that her Knightly training wouldn't go to waste.

She turned to Rin anxiously. "So what do we do now?"

Rin shrugged. "I was thinking we should just go on," he said as the crowd began to disperse. The duo seemed to be headed towards the back of an Inn.

"Oh really? I was hoping we could rest or something."

"I understand, Princess. I'm tired too…but like that pirate said; this town is part of Haiken. We might be recognized. Calatia Proper isn't too far away, and they don't have many things in common with Hyrule."

Zelda bit her lip and looked to the thinning crowd. She could still see several people in tunics and toques. The style of the Kokiri seemed to be quite popular here. _He_ was from this part of the country; she supposed that was why he liked wearing a toque and a green tunic too.

With resolve, the princess and the assassin were moving forward through the now empty back street, when Rin suddenly stopped and summoned Halef. Three spinning darts jutted out from nowhere and struck at the boy, but he was able to deflect them and push Zelda away.

As Zelda hit the floor a chain whipped out from the trees and headed with deadly intent for Rin's forehead. He brought up his arm and the chain wrapped itself around it. Rin became wide-eyed for one dreadful moment before pain and electricity shot up and down his body. He let out a agonizing howl and fell to his knees. Five more darts came from the trees. They hit the floor and surrounded Rin, and from them a cage of blue light was created. Rin was forced to his knees underneath the fearsome magic, and he could only stare at Zelda with rage in his eyes.

"One down…"

Zelda turned her head stiffly and looked in the direction of the voice. She saw a tall man dressed in ragged green robes. His head was wrapped tightly in green cloth, save for a hole that revealed one piercingly blue eye. He was wearing large gauntlets on his arms, and the chain that held Rin was attached to one of them.

"The blue-eyed Devil…" Zelda whispered.

The skin around his eye crinkled in a hidden smile. "Unfortunately for you, I was armed with weapons specifically designed to disarm my prey." He nodded towards Rin, trapped down with the chain and the magical cage, and as he did, he flung water into Zelda's face.

Zelda wasn't quick enough, and the water hit her dead on. She squinted and as she felt it pour down her facade, she suddenly realised that it was the same kind the witch Jezarin poured on them as rain when Invincible was killed. She couldn't use magic, or she'd be shorted out and at the mercy of this killer…

…like she wasn't already.

The Blue-eyed devil detached the chain bound to Rin and produced another one. With a strong leap, he made his way off of the tree and landed on the ground with a crash. His movements were slow and deliberate, and Zelda could tell he was taking pleasure in watching her squirm. As much as she tried to stop the trembling, she couldn't.

She was face to face with another dangerous enemy…and once again she was freezing! Why…what the hell was wrong with her?

The assassin brought a gauntlet up to his face and he licked the studded chain lustfully. "Do not worry, My Lady," he said mockingly, "I will make it quicker than you deserve."

"_Fight back…Fight back…"_ she told herself, but her muscles wouldn't respond.

He pulled his gauntlet back, whipping the chain around and gaining momentum. 

"_Do something!!!"_ She glanced down to her blouse and saw that Moto was still clutching on to her. "_Get out of here! Run!_" She knew it was useless. He wouldn't go anywhere. He was much too loyal.

And it was going to get him killed.

Zelda's blue-green eyes watched unblinking as the assassin flung the chain at her at full speed. She watched as the metal sliced through the air and screamed towards her. She saw a shadow, a figure suddenly appear in front of her…

With the sound of metal grating across metal, the chain was split cleanly in half and they whizzed by both sides of her. The right half of the chain blazed closely by her face, and she felt her cheek part and bleed. The chain halves slammed hard into the ground behind her and billowed a cloud of dust and dirt into the air.

Zelda focused and took in the figure in front of her. It was a boy, as tall as her, thin and well defined. He had fair skin, long ears and shiny blonde hair. He was wearing a green tunic with a large brimmed collar, and underneath a red long-sleeved shirt. He had brown shorts that reached just past his knees, brown boots and, most noticeably a long green toque over the top of his head.

Her trembling intensifying, she brought a shaking hand up and over her mouth, and she stepped back to get a better look. When she did, he finally spoke.

"It's better if you stand still," he said.

Zelda gasped silently. It was his voice. It _was_ him.

He turned his head slightly, and glanced back at her with those same intensely blue eyes. He then lowered his split-bladed Razorsword to his side.  "I'm sorry…Zelda," he said quietly. "I wasn't fast enough. I let you get hurt." 

The cut on her cheek. Zelda held it lightly, but her gaze never left him. "….Link?" she whispered.

Rin was staring at the two with considerable confusion. 

"What is this?" The Devil snarled angrily. He detached his ruined chain, and produced a new one.

Link turned his deadly glare towards the assassin. "You've hurt my Princess," he whispered with a cold menace.

"Who the hell are you?"

Link's scowl turned into a mirthless smile. "I'm your blue-eyed devil."

*************

So Link, you've finally come back.

I should beat you within an inch of your life, you know. You think you could just leave your friends like that at their time of need for no reason,

and waltz back like nothing's happened?

But…I still can't believe it. I don't know what to do. It's been so long?

What do I say? How do I act?

…and how the heck do I introduce you to Rin?

**Next Chapter:**

**The Legend of Zelda: Her Story**

**Greetings, Link.**

***

Long enough for ya? Thanks for reading. Oh and at the time I was writing this, I just reviewed my pal **Dinadan Feasin**'s new story, and he gave a shout out to me! Wow, you can't believe how elated I was. I mean Dinadan is an excellent, _excellent_ writer in his own right, and he gave me props! That's awesome. Thanks man. If you guys want Tolkienese writing that'll blow your socks off, just read this guys stuff! He's also writing a new 'traditional' style story that I think is looking really good. It's called '**The Hunt for Arawn'**, so be sure to check it out. Another person to check out is Snowsilver's '**The Destiny Stone**'.

Actually this is a good way for good stories to get read. I might make it a regular part of my chapters.

To the rest of my loyal readers, I loves ya all! You know who you are. See you soon for another instalment! –(o'.')o 


	15. Greetings, Link

With the sound of metal grating across metal, the chain was split cleanly in half and they whizzed by both sides of her. The right half of the chain blazed closely by her face, and she felt her cheek part and bleed. The chain halves slammed hard into the ground behind her and billowed a cloud of dust and dirt into the air.

Zelda focused and took in the figure in front of her. It was a boy, as tall as her, thin and well defined. He had fair skin, long ears and shiny blonde hair. He was wearing a green tunic with a large brimmed collar, and underneath a red long-sleeved shirt. He had brown shorts that reached just past his knees, brown boots and, most noticeably a long green toque over the top of his head.

Her trembling intensifying, she brought a shaking hand up and over her mouth, and she stepped back to get a better look. When she did, he finally spoke.

"It's better if you stand still," he said.

Zelda gasped silently. It was his voice. It was him.

He turned his head slightly, and glanced back at her with those same intensely blue eyes. He then lowered his split-bladed Razorsword to his side.  "I'm sorry…Zelda," he said quietly. "I wasn't fast enough. I let you get hurt." 

The cut on her cheek. Zelda held it lightly, but her gaze never left him. "…. Link?" she whispered.

Rin was staring at the two with considerable confusion. 

"What is this?" The Devil snarled angrily. He detached his ruined chain, and produced a new one.

Link turned his deadly glare towards the assassin. "You've hurt my Princess," he whispered with a cold menace.

"Who the hell are you?"

Link's scowl turned into a mirthless smile. "I'm your blue-eyed devil."

************

**The Legend of Zelda: Her Story**

**Chapter 13: Greetings Link.**

**By: The Kirby Kid**

**Disclaimer**: 

The Legend of Zelda™ is copyright of Nin-ten-do (It's a video game!)

**Authors Notes:**

I just gotta say, life gets in the way sometimes ya know. I had an interesting few months, hows about you? Thanks as always to **Fate**, **Faethin**, **idiotbx**, **Armageddon** ( love your reviews goddammit ), **Snowsilver**, **Evil** **Neptune**, **Natalie** and **everyone else** who reads this dark tale of macabre and the occult. 

No…wait, wrong fic.

Anyhow, like I always say enjoy. On with the tale.

************

"You're my blue-eyed devil?" the man repeated derisively. With one strong leap he blasted from the earth and vaulted back atop the thin tree branch, which swayed precariously but was able to maintain its strength. His dark green rags swayed in the slight wind, as did the chains that rattled from his large metal gauntlets, and his visible eye was focused squarely on the newcomer who had just interrupted his assassination attempt.

Link stood directly in front of Zelda and was looking up at the would-be killer. In his left hand was gripped the Razorsword, a long and thin blade that was split down the middle and acted as both a single and double-edged sword.  On his right forearm was strapped a small round shield. His weapons were pointed towards the ground, and there was a look of pure malice on his face.

Rin wasn't too far off, but he was still struggling against his magic cage. He looked at Link and the assassin with confusion.

Wiping the anti-Wisdom water from her face, Zelda observed the whole scene as if it were a scene from a novel. It just seemed impossible, completely out of the blue. Link was back! Just like that, after all this time. Why?

"You presume too much, boy."

Zelda blinked and looked up at the Blue Eyed Devil. He was repeatedly swinging his left arm and chain in a figure eight while at the same time his right arm was behind him, circling the chain and building up momentum. 

"There's a reason they call me a Devil…" the assassin sneered.

Link raised his Razorsword just slightly and narrowed his fierce blue eyes. "What are you doing? Interpretive dance?"

The single visible eye crinkled in anger as the assassin scowled from beneath his cloth.

"Why don't you just bring it on?" Link added.

The attack was launched so quickly that Zelda barely saw it. The assassin swung his left arm out and struck with his razor-edged chain. Link brought up his sword in and instant to block the attack. The chain struck it at the edge of the blade with a sharp ringing sound, and then it fell to the ground. Zelda, Rin and the assassin gaped at the chain. The target of the attack was gone.

"What the…" Zelda whispered.

"That's it…?"

The voice came from the assassin's left. He whirled and saw Link standing there on the same branch, as if he were as light as a Keaton. Zelda and Rin were staring owlishly. How did he get there?

The assassin stared back at the green-tuniced boy with rage. "You-"

Link didn't wait for him to finish. He simply kicked him off the branch. The assassin waved his arms around in a futile attempt to regain his balance, and he plummeted to the earth. As he did he whipped around his chains and struck back at the boy. Link was hit square in the chest and was knocked off the branch. With a large crash, the two of them hit the ground at nearly the same time.

With a gasping groan, Link struggled to his feet with his arm clutching his chest. The assassin, uninjured, sprung up and struck again with both chains.

Reacting quickly, Link blocked the chains with his shield, blasted forward, slashed his sword up and came to a skidding halt a few feet behind the assassin in one instant.

**Green Leaf Style: Counter Flow!**

The assassin shuddered momentarily before blood spurted from his body in a cut that arced from his chest to his back. He fell to the ground and didn't move again.

There was a resounding silence in the clear area behind the inn. Zelda stood staring at Link, Link stood staring ahead at nothing, and Rin was still bent over within his cage, and was staring at the both of them.

"Ku! Ku!"

Moto had peeked out from within Zelda's blouse and had greeted Link cheerfully. Link turned towards him and smiled slightly. "Hello Moto," he responded.

Zelda's eyes narrowed and she gritted her teeth. "_Hello Moto!?"_ she asked incredulously.

Just then Rin tried to escape his cage, and when the magic attacked him he let out a bark of pain. Zelda turned towards him and began to pick out the daggers from the earth that held Rin fast.

"_After all this time, and that's what he's got to say? "Hello Moto?""_

After picking out the last dagger, the cage dispersed completely. Rin stood up and stretched, keeping a sharp eye on Link. "Thanks, Itali."

Link turned to him, freezing his sheathing of his sword, and Zelda's eyes grew wide in surprise.

"What did you say?" Link asked suddenly.

"It's okay!" Zelda said before he could respond. "I know him from Hyrule. Link…" she could hardly believe she was saying that name again… "I'm not really comfortable talking here…"

Link nodded and slammed his sword into its sheath and his sword behind it. "I, uh…actually have a room in this inn. We can go there if you want, Princess."

Glancing over at the building a few yards in front of them, Zelda sighed and looked back at Rin. "Guess we'll have that rest after all."

Rin shrugged and said nothing. 

"Let's go," Zelda said, before she stepped close to Link, and then started towards the inn. 

************

Zelda saw that the little room was neat and tidy even though it had supposedly been used for a couple of days. Link was a bit of a neat freak…totally the opposite of Invincible. There was one wooden bed, a desk with a lamp and chair as furnishings and it was equipped with a bathroom. Link stood aside as Zelda and Rin entered.

Rin glanced around the room, noting the furnishings and nodding approvingly. "Suddenly…I do feel like a break," he murmured. He took a glimpse back at Link and Zelda and added, "I'm going to downstairs. Hope you don't mind if I charge the room."

Shrugging his baldric off of his shoulders, Link gave Rin a nod and the Gerudo boy exited the room, shutting the door behind him. 

There was that aching silence again. Zelda stood looking at Link for a moment, and then sat on the foot of the well-made bed. Link paused and followed her, and sat on the bed's side.

There was more silence. Zelda heard Link sigh out and bounce the bed slightly. "I'm sorry about that 'Hello Moto' remark," he said warily. 

"It's okay. I'm sure you were just really glad to see him."

Link lowered his head and sighed again. "I deserve that. Princess…you know I'm glad to see you too."

"Do I?" A chuckle escaped from her and she smiled slightly. She had always thought that if Link returned, she'd have a lot to say. She'd berate him about how horrible she felt after he left, and what she went through. She should have been talking his ear off…instead she could barely say anything.

"That guy looks kind of tough," Link supposed, nodding towards the door. "Kinda thin, but I'm one to talk…"

Zelda laughed. "Don't worry about Rin, he's kinda tame." The exchange kept her at ease and she began to open up more. "Listen, Link. I'm sorry I was such a jerk. It's okay to be nervous, I totally understand what…what you're…" She trailed off when she noticed that Link had become completely still. His hands were squeezing the bed covering so tightly that his knuckles where turning white. His eyes were pressed shut. 

"You said… '_Rin_?'"

A hand flew to her mouth as Zelda realized her mistake. What was wrong with her? She had called him Fala before. "Link…"

"That guy is _the _'Rin'?"

Before Zelda could answer Link got up to his feet, and stormed out of the room and downstairs. Zelda got up and rushed after him. She was right behind him as Link walked under the archway into the simple inn restaurant and bustled to Rin's table as the boy was just beginning to break some bread.

Rin saw Link coming. Zelda wondered if he was able to recognize the intent in Link's eyes or if it was Link's pseudo resemblance to Invincible himself. Either way it didn't matter. Rin jumped to his feet and his right and twitched. Link clasped his left hand into a fist and drew it back.

The restaurant that day was only party filled with patrons who saw the spectacle of two men supposedly about to come to blows, only to see them freeze in their tracks. Both Rin and Link blinked in surprise, and Link gritted his teeth as he struggled against his invisible restraints.

Zelda walked between the two of them and flashed her blue-green eyes towards her old friend. "Upstairs. Now."

"Zelda…" Link growled quietly.

"Now, Link!" Zelda pleaded. "I promise I'll tell you everything. Please!" With that, Zelda released the bind she had on both Link and Rin. Zelda took a step back while Link tried visibly to control his rage. When she reached for him, he shrugged away and stomped back upstairs.  Rin opened his mouth to say something, but Zelda put her finger up in the air to stop him. "If you ever raise a hand against him again, Nayru help me…"

"I was defending myself!" Rin hissed. Zelda didn't stay to listen; she headed back upstairs and back to Link. The last thing she heard from the restaurant was Rin addressing the other customers: "What!?"

************

Link waited patiently for the girl to reach the room, but as soon as she was in, he slammed the door shut behind her and turned to face her. He could barely control his anger. "Tell me what you're doing with him!" he shouted.

Zelda stood her ground and looked back at him with a similar seething expression. "Who do you think you are, demanding _anything _of me?" she said quietly.

Guilt rose up to his cheeks and forced Link to take a step back while Zelda walked over to the bed and sat once more. "I'm sorry. But that…that guy killed Invincible!"

"You don't think I know that?"

The statement took link aback, and he glanced away trembling. Of course she'd know that…she was there.

Zelda patted a spot on the bed next to her and bade Link to sit down. "I'm going to tell you everything."

***

As Link listened to her story, he found it harder and harder to stay calm. His fists tightened as he struggled to continue to listen. All the while, arcs of pain were shooting up and down his spine, arms and legs. The more he listened, the worse it got. It got to a point when Link was squinting his eyes and gripping his chest without even noticing it. Zelda noticed it though. She stared at him with concern in her eyes, and it also looked that she noticed for the first time the bandages that wrapped underneath his red shirt and brown shorts.

"Link what's wrong?"

Forcefully letting out a breath, Link glanced away and tugged on his sleeve in an attempt to hide the bandages. "Nothing," he lied. "It's not important. What's important is that you've been through a lot and…well I guess if you want to take _him _along then…"

"You understand?"

Link nodded and Zelda rose to her feet. "All right. Then I'll get him up here." She turned and headed for the door.

"I just hope you know what you're doing," Link whispered. Whether Zelda heard him or not, he didn't know. He was sitting on the bed with his hands gripping his knees, trying hard to control his breathing. He didn't want to get angry, but with that guy around he was quickly losing it. He'd have to find a way or…

Zelda returned to the room with Rin in tow. Link glanced at her and avoided looking at him. Instead he said, "This room is yours, but whatever you do I suggest you don't stay here too long." With that he rose to his feet. He noticed Rin walking towards him.

"Listen, the Princess told me about you. I…I'm sorry, I need you to know that."

He was sorry. Link supposed he would be too, after he snapped the guy's neck like a twig. The pain wracked through his body, up through his face and into his eyes. He had to get out of there. He brushed by the Gerudo. "Really…you don't understand…" Rin repeated, this time putting a hand on Link's shoulder.

Link's eye flashed open and his control was shattered. He slapped Rin's hand off him, clutched the other boys throat and slammed him against the wall so hard the one picture that hung on it crashed to the floor, sending glass everywhere in a slow spray. Rin's eye bulged and Link could see his own reflection off of them, and he could see that his own eyes had changed. Just like last time. The black pupil had dissipated into a swirl that flowed clockwise through the blue of his eyes. Just like the last time.

Rin saw it too and called out to Zelda before Link could crush his throat shut. "Look at his eyes! Look at them!" he shouted.

Zelda walked between them and paced her hands on Link's arms. Her magic was preventing him from killing the boy. In any case he didn't want her to see him like this. "What's he talking about?" she said as she tried to get a better look at his face. Link squeezed his eyes shut and tried to look away, but Zelda forced him to face her. When she saw the change, she clasped a hand over her mouth. It made Link feel even worse. "Link… What happened?"

She released the magical hold she had on him, and Link stumbled backwards. Glancing at both Rin and Zelda, he settled himself and started towards the door. "I'm going downstairs," he said. 

Before he closed the door, he turned halfway towards the Princess and added, "Zelda, please don't use your magic against me again." Then he left and closed the door behind him.

************

It was closing time, but because it was a slow night the restaurant was already dark and empty. There were about twenty round tables in the tiny inn eatery, and all save one was vacant. A young man in a green tunic occupied the one that was still in use.

Zelda came from the stairwell and walked softly towards the table. She saw that he was eating tomato-rice soup, which wasn't surprising seeing as to how it was his favourite. She smiled to herself and walked up next to him. "May I?"

Link gulped, handed a spoon to her and gestured towards the spare seat. Zelda sat, leaned towards the soup and began to eat quietly. They ate like that for some time, before Zelda broke the silence. "I am very, very upset with you, Link."

"I know," Link answered. "I'm sorry."

"Link, I'm way beyond apologies." She sighed and dipped her spoon into the soup once more. "I just want to know why."

There was a minute of silence, and then Link answered by saying, "It was Itali."

"Itali?"

"She needed my help."

Hearing this, Zelda bit her lip and stared into her soup. Link caught the change in expression and raised a placating hand. "We were just friends. It's just…When I got there, to the Dark World, things got difficult. I had a hard time getting back. When I did…I just…I had to stay away for a while. Then I heard about Invincible…and I had to see you no matter what. I was worried…"

"I don't understand why you couldn't have contacted me! Or Luto. You could have at least contacted Luto…even if you didn't want to communicate to me."

Link didn't answer. There was more silence. Then Zelda asked, "What's with those bandages, and your eyes?"

He sighed and blinked self-consciously. He had checked his eyes a few moments ago, and they were normal. Still, it was expected that Zelda would ask. "Don't worry about it," Link said assuredly. Zelda didn't buy it. He was still not talking with her. What had happened to him in the Dark World?

"It's not a problem. The bandages are just because of a rash I picked up while I was away." Link looked up suddenly and peered into Zelda's eyes. "Don't worry, it…it's not contagious or anything."

"I know," Zelda said with a smile. "I know because you're letting me eat with you. You wouldn't if you were sick or if it was catching. I trust you Link." The smile fell off her face and she glanced into the soup again. "It's too bad you don't trust me."

Link's mouth opened slightly, and he also stared into the soup, which seemed happy to get the attention. "I'm sorry Zelda. I know I've let you down…all of you. Luto and Talon and Rocco and my Uncle and your parents…and Invincible." Turning the soup around in its bowl for a moment, he added, "I just hope you can accept me now, because if it's possible, I'd like to accompany you on your journey."

Zelda's spoon dropped into the bowl and she looked at him intently. "Link…"

"Come on." Link smiled at her and added, "I promise I won't run away."

"Link…" Zelda leaned back on her chair, crossed her legs and placed her hands on her knees. "Sorry, don't believe you. But if you just happened to follow along, I wouldn't object. Don't get me wrong; I'm still pretty cross… " Rising from her seat, she finished by saying, "But I'll get over it," and turned towards the stairwell. She didn't go up it though, instead she stood still, keeping her face away from him and she added, "All I ever wanted for to stay with m-us." With that she started towards the stairwell, but was stopped when Link took a hold of her arm.

"Do you really think you can trust that guy?" Link whispered. "He killed an innocent person just to save one of his own. That's not even vengeance, Zelda. That's murder. He thinks he's completely justified. That's really dangerous."

Of course, Zelda had been asking herself the same question for many days now. "Link," she started as she turned to face him, "He asked me once if I were in the same situation…that if it was Tibalt or mother or Talon…if I would do what he did." She clasped her hands behind her back. "What do you think?"

"I think…" Link started angrily. "That my mother and father and Uncle who were and are Knights wouldn't do it…even to save my life, because it's against a Knights code. I real hero is supposed to sacrifice his _own_ life…not the life of an innocent." He looked at Zelda and added, "I'd use my life to save yours Zelda…or my Uncle or Luto or any of my close friends, but I wouldn't take an innocent life to save anyone." When Zelda didn't answer after a while he asked, "What do you think?"

Zelda brought a hand up to her face and rubbed at her eyes warily. "I still don't know what I'd do," Zelda sighed. "And I hope that I never will." That said, Zelda went upstairs to get some sleep. According to Rin, she'd need it after all. It wouldn't be long until they reached the Ghanim Fortress.

************

The Ghanim Fortress is nigh

As is the object of this quest: The child, Nubarin.

But even as this small group have trust in their abilities,

The will find that there is more at risk than the life of one girl.

There is risk to Wisdom itself.

**Next Chapter:**

**The Legend of Zelda: Her Story**

**Jezarin's Plan**

***

Well I'm not abandoning this story, even though I've got quite a few others planned, this is still one of my favourites. It's just…. well since I'm in my last semester, things have gotten extremely busy. When I'm not working, I'm sleeping. I don't even have time to play anymore. Actually I'm forgoing precious project and assignment time to write this. But it was worth it…I hope. O_o. 

Last chapter I suggested Snowsilver's "**The Destiny Stone**", and I still do. My suggested reading this chapter is "**Spirit of the Desert**", which is written by Weegie. If you're looking at a well-written take into the Gerudo lifestyle and you're a Nabooru fan, check this fic out. Later! –**The Kirby Kid**.


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